What if the difference between becoming average and becoming exceptional comes down to who you choose to learn from and the courage to ask for mentorship?

In today's episode of The Ripple Effect Podcast, I'm truly honored and excited to interview John A. Dailey, a Marine badass and one of the most compelling voices I've ever had the privilege of interviewing.

John joined the Marines at just seventeen and went on to serve more than twenty years, spending most of that time in special operations with tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

John shares powerful leadership lessons forged through real-world experience, including how to earn respect, how to balance mission accomplishment with taking care of your people, and why mentorship is one of the most underrated keys to growth in both military and civilian life. We also talk about mental toughness, grit, and what it really means to lead when the stakes are high.

John earned his MFA in creative writing from UNCW in 2018 and shares his insights through his weekly newsletter, Walking Point, along with his thoughts on building toughness through fitness at RTFU.substack.com.

Ripple with John Dailey
Websites:
https://JADailey.com
https://Walkingpoint.org
Subscribe to the Walking Point newsletter: https://jdailey.substack.com

Ripple with Steve Harper
Instagram: http://instagram.com/rippleon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rippleon
X: https://twitter.com/rippleon
Website: http://www.ripplecentral.com

Have you ever worked for a company that tells you to bring your full self to work, celebrates authenticity and psychological safety, and then turns around and crushes you with metrics, perfectionism, and burnout?

If you find yourself nodding, this episode is for you.

Shaun Tinney, a speaker, performance coach, and the author of Practice Everything, joins me for a deep, honest conversation about leadership, workplace culture, and what it really means to live and work with intention.

Shaun has spent years guiding individuals and teams through pivotal change across both corporate and creative environments, drawing on psychology, the Enneagram, and a whole lot of lived experience to help people navigate resistance with confidence and clarity.

In this interview, Shaun shares his journey from entrepreneurship and high-impact consulting to stepping away from agency life, traveling more than 70,000 miles across the country, and eventually helping shape culture, learning, and development at goodr Sunglasses during a period of rapid growth.

Shaun and I talk about the "small" stuff that ends up shaping everything: the mixed messages leaders send (often without realizing it), and the gap between what companies say they value and what actually gets rewarded day to day.

This conversation is for leaders, founders, creatives, and anyone who wants to do work that matters without burning out within systems that still run on fear rather than trust.

Take your time with this one, grab a notebook, and let it challenge the way you think about performance and The Ripple Effect your daily choices create.

Ripple with Shaun Tinney
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shauntinney/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shauntinney/
Practice Everything: https://practiceeverything.com/
Personal Site: https://shauntinney.com/

Ripple with Steve Harper
Instagram: http://instagram.com/rippleon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rippleon
X: https://twitter.com/rippleon
Website: http://www.ripplecentral.com

Welcome back to The Ripple Effect Podcast. Today's conversation is one of those interviews that sticks with you long after it ends.

Meet Jen Newbill.

Jen brings over 25 years of HR experience across talent acquisition, leadership development, learning and development, and HR operations. She has coached leaders and executives in both startup and large enterprise environments and completed the Awaken Coach Institute, an ICF-accredited coaching program. Throughout her career, Jen has led large, complex programs and teams of more than 50 employees, with a deep passion for feedback, coaching, and leadership growth.

Most recently, Jen served as Global Director of Emerging Talent Recruiting at Dell Technologies, where she led employer branding efforts for students and early-career talent. Over her 21-year tenure at Dell, she held multiple leadership roles across recruiting, leadership development, HR operations, and employment branding, including launching and growing Dell's global talent-attraction and employment brand team. Her work emphasized engagement, collaboration, trust, and data-driven decision-making.

A strong advocate for workplace transparency, Jen was named a Glassdoor Top Talent Warrior and has served on advisory boards for CareerXRoads, Glassdoor, and Universum. She has been featured in major publications and is a frequent podcast guest and conference speaker. Jen is also a certified CliftonStrengths coach, a 200-hour certified yoga teacher, and a certified meditation teacher, bringing a whole-person, strengths-based approach to her leadership and team coaching.

If you are a leader, executive, or people manager who feels like performance reviews miss the mark, employee engagement is slipping, or burnout is quietly taking over your team, listen until the end.

Jen brings a strengths-based leadership lens to everything she does as a CliftonStrengths certified coach, and she breaks down how you can use tools like Gallup StrengthsFinder to build high-performing teams, improve leadership communication, and create a strengths-based culture that lasts.

We talk about why so many employees feel uninvested at work, how leaders can become better listeners, and why relationship-building at work is more important than ever in today's corporate environment.

This conversation is honest, practical, and grounded in real corporate experience. If you are looking for a better way to lead, inspire, and perform without burning yourself or your people out, you are in the right place.

Connect with Jen Newbill
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferjonesnewbill/
Website: https://newday-coaching.com/

Ripple with Steve Harper
Instagram: http://instagram.com/rippleon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rippleon
X: https://twitter.com/rippleon
Website: http://www.ripplecentral.com