Knucklehead Podcast

Brand Conversations That Convert with Kate DiLeo

Imagine the first 15 seconds of any conversation in sales or marketing. Picture the homepage of a website, the initial beats of an advertisement, the opening lines of an email, or the introduction in a virtual Zoom room. These crucial moments are not just opportunities. They are the battlegrounds where a business either captivates or loses its audience. In this edition of the Knucklehead podcast, Stephen is joined by Kate DiLeo. Successful in building a winning brand pitch for outbound sales, Kate talks about how she transitioned from academia to sales and eventually became a bestselling author and founder of a brand strategy firm. She also explores the importance of building a strong brand strategy and how it can help businesses grow. Kate DiLeo is the Founder of The Brand Trifecta, an interactive brand-building program that has empowered thousands of organizations to build brands. An "accidental brand strategist" who originally intended to pursue a PhD in Anthropology, Kate discovered the power of branding during her first sales job. In the pursuit of making quota, Kate realized she needed to cut through the noise with a message that would compel prospects to want to have a conversation. It was that, or she was out of a job. The Brand Trifecta is rooted in her firm belief that brand is the path of least resistance to revenue. Kate is also a #1 International bestselling author who teaches at some of the world's premier marketing conferences and directly mentors startups through more than a dozen global accelerator programs.Enjoy! In This Episode02:10 - Kate's story of how she accidentally became a brand strategist.07:28 - The true meaning of a brand.09:50 - What Kate learned in the early years of her career.14:23 - The most common mistakes businesses make.17:37 - How Kate thrived as a branding strategist.19:01 - Kate's consulting, book, and tech product offerings. Favorite Quotes02:19 - "I don't think a lot of us, as entrepreneurs and leaders, have this perfectly straight line in our careers. We've had a lot of circumstantial, really interesting opportunities that lead us to where we are." - Kate DiLeo05:51 - "Brand is the promise of who we say we are and the value we deliver. It's a language, and it's the power of language that ultimately leads to the path of least resistance to revenue."- Kate DiLeo07:38 - "A brand is the first 15 seconds of any conversation, sales or marketing conversation. It's the homepage of your website, the first five seconds of an ad, the lead-in for your email, or what you say in the Zoom room. It's the first few things that somebody wants to know." - Kate DiLeo10:26 - "The biggest downfall I used to make early on was that I would go write brand with marketing and marketing only. That is the dumbest thing ever because a brand is held by not only marketing but also the C-suite team or the founder and sales." - Kate DiLeo11:01 - "A brand is the glue that holds sections of the organization together. It's the singular message that everybody is speaking in the organization — what we do, how we solve our customer's problems, and how we're different." - Kate DiLeo Connect with Kate DiLeo:LinkedInThe Brand TrifectaWebsite Connect with Knucklehead Media Group:WebsiteFacebookTwitter • Knucklehead Media Group is your "push button" for podcasts. We help companies and organizations tell their story using podcasts and best practices for content distribution. Home to some of the top podcasts across multiple categories, captivating coursework on gaining traction with your show, and consulting to those companies BOLD enough to get some wins. We believe your mistakes set the foundation for your success, those stories help customers beat a pathway to your doorstep, and the myths from bringing business online shouldn't hold you back from getting yours. Click here for more episodes of the Knucklehead Podcast

Bridging the Gap Between Military and Healthcare

The Knucklehead Podcast and MEDEVAC Podcast join forces in this episode to discuss the value of networks and communities. Our hosts, Stephen Colon, Christian Meyers, and David Reid, share their personal experiences in the military and the importance of valuing one's own story of struggle and recovery. They emphasize the power of resilience and the need to take risks and challenge oneself to grow and succeed. With a mission to share stories of service, injury, recovery, resiliency, failure, and success, David and Christian touch on the connection between health struggles and the military and how war impacts medical advancements. In the final segment, they speak about the Texas Valor Project and how they fight traumatic brain injuries.David served in the US Army, while Christian served in the Air Force. They both have firsthand experience with combat and the challenges that come with it. Through their podcast, they aim to share stories of resilience and recovery, focusing on the experiences of injured veterans and the medical personnel who rescue and care for them.Enjoy! In This Episode03:18 - The value of networking and connecting with others.05:58 - How podcasts relate to the Oregon Trail story.07:51 - The unique aspects of the military.08:59 - How Knucklehead Podcast was born.15:19 - The connection between the military and medical fields.17:12 - A commonality between military and civilian adversity.19:31 - How David and Christian value one's own story.24:38 - What the Texas Valor Project (TVP) is about.27:38 - How the transcranial magnetic stimulation helps with major brain functions.33:39 - How nonprofit organizations bridge the gap in healthcare.36:32 - The importance of vetting business partners and being true to oneself.40:52 - How Stephen's screw-ups and mistakes led to his present success.42:49 - David's advice to people who have been injured. Favorite Quotes08:04 - "Being in the military exposes you to a multitude of different worlds. And it unplugs you from the system you're in. It helps cultivate this environment of thinking outside the box." - David Reid14:10 - "The problem that a lot of people face is that they're just in this community of being and feeling safe, so they never push themselves or challenge themselves. And that's what the military drives to. The military instills that resilience in you and that ability to push forward." - David Reid15:30 - "Every major medical advancement of the last hundred years has been explicitly due to war. So every medical advancement, with plastic surgery, traumatic brain injuries, PTSD, and everything starting from World War I until the present day, was directly because of conflict." - Christian Meyers16:27 - "Conflict creates the opportunity for breakthroughs." - Stephen Colon17:40 - "Everybody faces their own battles. It doesn't matter if you're hit in war or you're crossing a street, and you see your best friend get hit. Post-traumatic stress is the same response physiologically across the board." - David Reid43:27 - "If you're not getting failure, then you're not challenging yourself hard enough. You're not pushing yourself hard enough." - David Reid43:35 - "Even the adversity that you're facing in this current moment is going to bring out the best version in yourself if you make the right choices along the way." - David Reid How To Get Involved:Texas Valor ProjectTexas Gun ClubMEDEVAC PodcastKnucklehead Media Group How To Get Connected:Christian MeyersDavid Reid Connect with Knucklehead Media Group:WebsiteFacebookTwitter • Knucklehead Media Group is your "push button" for podcasts. We help companies and organizations tell their story using podcasts and best practices for content distribution. Home to some of the top podcasts across multiple categories, captivating coursework on gaining traction with your show, and consulting to those companies BOLD enough to get some wins. We believe your mistakes set the foundation for your success, those stories help customers beat a pathway to your doorstep, and the myths from bringing business online shouldn't hold you back from getting yours. Click here for more episodes of the Knucklehead Podcast

Carving Your Unique Future with Christopher Lochhead

For some lucky souls, the universe lays out a space for them, a place where they can fit into society. There are, however, others who do not conform to the traditional spaces and roles. They are square pegs in a round hole world. How can these individuals defy the conventional narrative and resist the constraints of societal norms? In this episode of the Knucklehead podcast, Stephen talks with Christopher Lochhead. A dyslexic paperboy from Montreal who got thrown out of school at 18, Christopher talks about how he created his own place in this world. With few other options, he became an entrepreneur, then three-time Silicon Valley public company CMO (Mercury Interactive, Scient, Vantive), and an investor/advisor to over 50 venture-backed startups.Also best known as a "godfather" of Category Design, Christopher shares how he developed his content distribution strategy, why today is the greatest time in the history of human beings to be a creator and an entrepreneur, and how success is about failing in the right direction.Christopher is a 14-time #1 bestselling Amazon author, #1 charting Apple business podcaster, top 5 business newsletter creator, and former 3X public tech company CMO. He co-authored the first two books on the management discipline Category Design, Play Bigger, and Niche Down. He also co-creates mini-books on Category Design, Category Pirates, and the Category Pirates Series of Amazon books. Recently, he co-authored #1 bestsellers "The 22 Laws of Category Design" and "Snow Leopard: How Legendary Writers Create A Category Of One". Enjoy! In This Episode01:30 - Christopher's strategy for delivering content.05:10 - How Christopher developed his content distribution strategy.11:17 - Knowledge workers versus creator capitalists.15:22 - Christopher's newest category.20:02 - One of the biggest fallacies in marketing.22:14 - How Christopher's screw-ups led him to where he is today.28:55 - What The 22 Laws of Category Design is all about.33:22 - Christopher's final piece of advice.  Favorite Quotes00:00 - "I'm in giant intergalactic failure in every dimension. I don't even have a GED. I got thrown out of school at 18. I found out at 21 that I have five different learning differences — dyslexia, dyscalculia, ADHD, and a couple of others. And so at 18 years old, with very few choices because nobody would hire me to do anything, I started a company." - Christopher Lochhead06:07 - "We're living in a new native digital world. Nobody really knows how to pioneer this world. And so we think that what's there to do is to go and play." - Christopher Lochhead12:23 - "As the availability of all of humanity's knowledge becomes accessible and closer and closer to free over time, people who get paid to apply existing knowledge are gonna become less and less." - Christopher Lochhead23:06 - "There are people for whom there is a place in this world. And there are some of us for whom there is no place, and we do not fit. And so rather than find a place, I have to make my place." - Christopher Lochhead24:07 - "For me, entrepreneurship was not a way up in the world as much as it was a way out of a life of struggle and poverty." - Christopher Lochhead26:09 - "If you experiment and create and push and pull and fail, lose a ton of money and get laughed at and be incredibly shamed and embarrassed by things and et cetera, that's innovation. Success is about failing in the right direction." - Christopher Lochhead31:38 - "If you view yourself as a person/company that is trying to catalyze a movement and bring people together and drive a conversation, magic happens." - Christopher Lochhead33:25 - "This is the greatest time of technological innovation in the history of human beings. And it is the greatest time in the history of human beings to be a creator and an entrepreneur." - Christopher Lochhead33:53 - "The future needs the entrepreneurs, the creators, the innovators, the pirates, and dreamers to do exponential things to create different futures. And there's never been a greater time to create different futures and category design your own new markets than right now." - Christopher LochheadConnect with Christopher LochheadWebsiteConnect with Knucklehead Media GroupWebsiteFacebookTwitterKnucklehead Media Group is your "push button" for podcasts. We help companies and organizations tell their story using podcasts and best practices for content distribution. Home to some of the top podcasts across multiple categories, captivating coursework on gaining traction with your show, and consulting to those companies BOLD enough to get some wins. We believe your mistakes set the foundation for your success, those stories help customers beat a pathway to your doorstep, and the myths from bringing business online shouldn't hold you back from getting yours. Click here for more episodes of the Knucklehead Podcast

Selling More Deals with Adam Boyd

Selling is essential for all business owners and salespeople, but knowing how to do it effectively can be challenging. Despite having a great product or service, sellers may need help to close deals and generate revenue. While each business is unique, and each salesperson has their own strengths and weaknesses, how can business owners and sellers sell more effectively and achieve greater success in their business?In this edition of the Knucklehead Podcast, Stephen talks with Adam Boyd, Principal at The Northwood Group. A former high school English teacher and football coach, Adam talks about the parallels between football and real-world business, the screw-ups he made in his sales career, and how he now helps owners and sellers expand their businesses.Adam Boyd is the Principal at The Northwood Group, a consulting firm that delivers best practices for sales teams and professional services firms to win more business. Adam has over 15 years of working with small to mid-sized businesses on sales growth. His expertise is deep in direct selling, sales management, and lead generation. Adam has consulted in over 20 industries, had an exit, worked in turnarounds, started a business from the ground floor, and had his share of failures. He's cold-called, sold to CEOs, built and managed campaigns, and led teams to set records. Adam began his career as a high school English teacher and football coach.Enjoy!In This Episode03:25 - Backstory of Adam Boyd06:46 - The most common mistake people make when it comes to learning08:49 - The parallels between football and real-world business14:51 - Some of the screw-ups Adam made in his sales career21:20 - Adam's approach to working with business organizations25:01 - How Adam can help business owners and sellers expand their businessesFavorite Quotes03:46 - "People from a coaching standpoint needed repetition and a lot of feedback to see what they were doing." - Adam Boyd15:25 - "For anybody who has to sell and work on the phone, they've got the risk of rejection. There has to be a deep desire to get where they're trying to go, or else it's just hell." - Adam Boyd19:48 - "One of the things that I've done poorly in my life is not making sure people are committed to doing what it takes to get where they want to go." - Adam Boyd22:16 - "Anything in our life that's done well takes a little bit of time." - Adam Boyd27:11 - "We all talk about how failure's a great teacher, but it's painful when you're going through it." - Adam BoydConnect with Adam BoydLinkedInThe North Wood GroupGrab your COVID-19 survivor T-shirt HEREConnect with Knucklehead Media GroupWebsiteFacebookTwitter• Knucklehead Media Group is your "push button" for podcasts. We help companies and organizations tell their story using podcasts and best practices for content distribution. Home to some of the top podcasts across multiple categories, captivating coursework on gaining traction with your show, and consulting to those companies BOLD enough to get some wins. We believe your mistakes set the foundation for your success, those stories help customers beat a pathway to your doorstep, and the myths from bringing business online shouldn't hold you back from getting yours. Click here for more episodes of the Knucklehead Podcast

The Challenges of Running the Family Business with Billy Self

When it comes to family businesses, there are a lot of different dynamics at play. And when things go wrong, it can be tough to cope with the fallout. Bankruptcy can be a very difficult and stressful time for everyone involved. The impact on mental health is often devastating and can feel like a personal failure. In today's edition of the Knucklehead Podcast, our guest, Billy Self, talks about the trauma his parents went through when their family business went bankrupt. He also shares the story of his journey to taking over the family business, how he became a serial entrepreneur, and what the most significant turning point in his life and business was. Despite the many failures in his business, Billy realized how faith can make a huge difference in someone else's life and why mentorship is so valuable.Billy Self is the President of Warehouse-Pro, a project and contractual provider of warehousing, distribution, merchandising, freight management, and specialized logistics services for retail, technology, and various other industry verticals. Its mission is more than shipping and warehousing – it's about giving your business the space it needs to grow and expand into new markets. Enjoy!In This Episode03:22 - Backstory of Billy Self05:39 - How Billy's family business recovered from bankruptcy09:12 - The trauma Billy's parents experienced when their family business failed10:33 - How Billy's father got involved in politics13:42 - Billy's journey to taking over his family's business19:05 - What motivated Billy to run the family business despite many challenges25:42 - How Billy discovered that he's more of a salesman than an operator28:34 - How Billy became a serial entrepreneur35:48 - How Billy overcame his self-doubt45:10 - One of Billy's most significant turning points in life and business57:23 - Billy's thoughts on how things turned out during his most challenging times1:04:23 - Billy's advice to his younger selfFavorite Quotes19:05 - "I didn't have any other options at that time. But once I got into it and my frustration was at its highest, I didn't know what to do. I was crying many times about how to make payroll. My grandfather pulled me aside and said, 'you don't know what it's like to run a small business until you're crying on a Thursday night because you don't know how you make payroll the next day. And I experienced that quite a few times." - Billy Self31:38 - "The trauma of bankruptcy for my dad in the early eighties always stuck with him. He never tells me what to do. He would go, "son, my experience is this debt is scary. Keep yourself out of court and keep yourself out of dangerous debt." - Billy Self53:50 - "I was a functioning alcoholic. And so all the stressors, all the self-doubt of my whole adult career and the company was a lot of drinking - drinking at the office, drinking after the office, drinking at home, drinking again after that. It was bad. And it had gotten to where I couldn't remember the last time I didn't have a drink on a day." - Billy Self54:43 - "I stopped drinking on September 10th, 2018. That was my last drink. It was a big deal for me, and that's when my faith leapfrogged. I got closer to God because there was a big piece of my life that I was giving too much to alcohol, self-doubt going, and self-medicating." - Billy Self55:19 - "It was a year after stopping drinking that the warehouse opportunity to go across the street to the bigger place came with a handshake deal. I have never met anybody who could lease a warehouse space on a handshake." - Billy Self59:40 - "I want my girls to know that it's okay to fail, and it's cool to fail greatly as long as you feel what God was putting on your heart to try." - Billy Self1:04:53 - "Don't stop searching for the best mentor to help you walk through your career and your life." - Billy SelfConnect with Billy SelfLinkedInWarehouse-ProGrab your COVID 19 survivor T-shirt HEREConnect with Knucklehead Media GroupWebsiteFacebookTwitter• Knucklehead Media Group is your "push button" for podcasts. We help companies and organizations tell their story using podcasts and best practices for content distribution. Home to some of the top podcasts across multiple categories, captivating coursework on gaining traction with your show, and consulting to those companies BOLD enough to get some wins. We believe your mistakes set the foundation for your success, those stories help customers beat a pathway to your doorstep, and the myths from bringing business online shouldn't hold you back from getting yours. Click here for more episodes of the Knucklehead Podcast