SEASON: 6 EPISODE: 7

Episode Overview:

Welcome back to Becoming Preferred, the podcast where we equip you to lead with influence, not just authority. If you’re an entrepreneur or business professional whose growth is stalled by employee turnover, poor communication, or the sheer struggle of transitioning from a high-performing doer to an effective leader, then you're going to enjoy this episode.

Today, we are happy to welcome Courtney Ramsey, a renowned leadership development expert, speaker, and consultant who has spent two decades transforming companies.

Courtney's mission is simple: to stop the bleeding caused by low engagement and high turnover by giving leaders the concrete communication and people skills they desperately need. She doesn't just talk theory; she delivers tangible, behavioral shifts that save companies millions. Get ready to learn how to master the art of tough feedback, delegate strategically, and truly lead the team that's destined to become your dream team. Join me for my conversation with Courtney Ramsey.

Guest Bio:

Courtney Ramsey is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience in the Learning & Development and Human Resources fields. Courtney brings a wealth of knowledge to audiences with her experiential programs that have a real impact on business results and inspire change.

Over the years, she has successfully trained tens of thousands of associates in various areas such as leadership, business management, conflict resolution, communication skills, and operations helping companies like JCPenney, Toyota, Populus Financial Group, and Zales Corporation save millions of dollars.

Courtney is the author of the book, Share Your Genius: 35 Tips to Create Training That Transforms. In it, she provides trainers with the tools they need to create engaging and effective training sessions.

Resource Links:

• Website: https://courtneyramseyspeaks.com/
• Product Link: https://courtneyramseyspeaks.com/services/

Insight Gold Timestamps:

03:48  Professional development, helping people be better, that's what I love

05:50  No one's brave enough to have the tough conversation

10:32  I still think there's a pretty big bias out there in terms of promoting women up

12:21  There's really no defining line anymore of what is personal, what is work, it's so blended

13:47  You call this taking off the cape moment

15:57  Many leaders struggle to delegate because their fear of failure or inefficiency

18:17  That inverted pyramid approach to where the leader is essentially at the bottom...

19:58  You've got a popular TEDx talk called Why We Hit the Snooze on the Conversations that Matter

22:30  Is there a distance that leaders ought to maybe maintain and keep in order to be able to have that firewall

25:16  I call that setting your intention and saying your intention out loud

27:01  We do still see those people who don't quite get that things have changed in the last 20, 30 years

29:26  ChatGPT and the other AIs are pretty decent at being leadership coaches

30:37  So, every generation has its own learning style

32:30  You speak on the need to speak up and say it

33:47  Call the elephant out in the room

35:10 The one thing I would encourage people to start doing today to make a huge impact on your leadership is to stop avoiding...

SEASON: 6 EPISODE: 6

Episode Overview:

Welcome back to Becoming Preferred, the podcast where we help you climb the revenue ladder and become the preferred provider in the markets you serve.

Today, we're tackling a challenge every modern business leader faces: You have a passionate purpose, but does it actually move the needle? What if your brand could prove that activism and social impact don't just inspire; they reliably sell, grow market share, and reduce customer churn? Our guest is here to show you exactly how to do it.

Neil Callanan is the founder of LooseGrip and the brilliant mind behind the Grasp Impact Framework. His work sits at the critical intersection of marketing, activism, and analytics. He doesn't just talk about having a mission; he equips you with the tools to measure what truly matters.

Get ready to learn how the most impactful brands are connecting their values to tangible business growth. Join me for my conversation with Neil Callanan.

Guest Bio:

Neil Callanan is the founder of LooseGrip and the creator of the Grasp Impact Framework, a system that helps mission-driven brands connect storytelling with measurable outcomes. Since 2009, he has guided organizations from global giants like Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s to emerging value-focused companies, showing how to align their campaigns with tangible business growth and impact.

Neil’s work sits at the intersection of marketing, activism, and analytics. Where most teams drown in disconnected data or rely on anecdotes, he helps leaders find the middle ground—inspiring teams by turning data into stories, and stories into metrics that stand up in boardrooms.

His goal is simple: equip leaders with tools to measure what truly matters so they can do more of it.

Resource Links:

• Website: https://loosegrip.net
• Website: https://www.graspyourimpact.com/
• Product Link: https://loosegrip.net/services/

Insight Gold Timestamps:

05:03  A little bit of intention and a little bit of luck

06:41  There are stories that need to be told

09:12 When we're figuring out whether a client's a good fit for our framework

10: 56 When people are connected with our brand, they buy more of our stuff

11:48  Most companies get stuck by not starting

14:11 They're kind of topic agnostic

15:20 I know you hate spreadsheets and you kind of pride yourself on hating spreadsheets

15:51  What would the perfect experience be?

19:20  I chair the board of a nonprofit called the I Am Able Foundation

23:22 We love to talk about data in the form of Legos

25:00 If you can turn that data into a story, I think you can connect with your audience a whole lot more

26:37 If I could know anything, what would I want to know?

30:04  Why did I choose Big Brother?

30:56  I think a lot of people are really inherently altruistic and they actually want to help other folks

33:24  If they get the value out of it, and we get to bring our best selves to the project, that's the win

34:44  You talk about writing through grief

34:55  My wife and I lost our son Shea, he was 4 1/2

35:43  I wrote a lot about the journey

42:12  AI has not yet replaced us entirely, but I think it has gotten a lot better at doing the first 60% of the work

43:13  Websites are

SEASON: 6 EPISODE: 5

Episode Overview:

 Welcome to the Becoming Preferred Podcast. Today, I am bringing you a special replay of one of my favorite conversations, and the timing couldn't be better. We just celebrated Thanksgiving a few days ago. For many of us, it was a time to gather with friends and family, share a meal, and reflect on our blessings.

But here's what I've come to believe. Gratitude isn't meant to be a once a year event. It's a practice, a daily discipline that shapes how we see the world, and how we move through it. Every morning as part of my journaling routine, I'm prompted with a simple question, what am I grateful for? And I've discovered something profound in that practice.

When you start your day with gratitude, you position yourself to see abundance. Not because your circumstances magically change, but because your perspective does. Now here's the thing. Gratitude is easy when life is good, but what about when you're in the middle of a storm? What about when the diagnosis is devastating? When the relationship is fractured? When the business is struggling? Can gratitude still work then?

That's exactly what my guest, Sandie Eggers helps us understand. Sandie learned the transformational power of gratitude during one of life's hardest seasons, her husband's terminal illness. And what she discovered wasn't just a coping mechanism, it was a way to navigate adversity with strength, clarity, and even joy.

So whether you're riding high from a wonderful Thanksgiving, or you're carrying a heavy burden into the season, I believe this conversation will meet you right where you are. Gratitude isn't about ignoring your struggles. It's about finding solid ground in the middle of them. Enjoy this conversation with guest, Sandie Eggers.

Guest Bio:

“Do nothing and be dead in a few days,” were the words Sandie Eggers heard from her husband’s surgeon, words that began her greatest season of challenge to date.

The two main things that enabled Sandie to weather this life storm were God and the transformational power of gratitude. Sandie is passionate about helping others by sharing what she’s learned so that they, too, can better navigate through their own life storms.

In addition to having authored the book, “Live Boldly and Embrace Joy” about her life-altering experience, Sandie also shares her knowledge through online courses, webinars, and workshops. She speaks to civic, religious, and corporate groups.

FUN FACT:

Sandie now lives in the low country. By God’s grace and blessing, she has achieved one of her personal goals: living in a place where the only “white stuff” she sees is beach sand.

Resource Links:

• Website: https://www.yourlifeabundant.com
• Product Link: https://www.amazon.com/Embrace-Each-Day-Joy-Laughing-ebook/dp/B00LK9WKVC

Insight Gold Timestamps:

04:37 The greatest adversity that I'd gone through was the terminal illness of my husband

05:55 While we couldn't control this monster called cancer….

07:11 It's easy when we're living in an environment like we're living

09:38 Your work centers a lot on fostering an attitude of gratitude

11:12 You talk about gratitude being a practice

12:12 There's some specific techniques that you can use when you're a pessimist

14:09 You can begin to see the good out of a very bad situation

14:24 Declare an International Be Kind to (Fill in Your Name) Day!

15:40 Having gratitude to something outside yourself

18:48 How does the mechanism of gratitude get us out of that place, that...