Transforming Leaders at Baker Road with Joe DeLoss

Whether you’re a leader feeling isolated, someone longing for deeper community, or just looking for a fresh perspective on personal growth, this episode is all about finding meaning, creating space for change, and, as Joe DeLoss puts it, “hiking to the beginning” again and again.Welcome to the Spirit of EQ podcast! I’m Eric Pennington, your host, and in this episode, I’m joined by Joe DeLoss—an entrepreneur many of you might know from Hot Chicken Takeover, but today he’s here to share something entirely new and deeply personal: Baker Road.As Joe DeLoss and I talk, you’ll hear how he’s moved beyond just building businesses to cultivating a mission-driven community space that reconnects people with themselves and with nature.Baker Road isn’t about productivity for its own sake, but about creating restorative spaces where individuals and teams can find clarity, stillness, and genuine connection—something we all need in our fast-paced, achievement-focused world.In this conversation, Joe DeLoss opens up about what drew him to this work—a journey that started with a rite of passage experience for a friend’s son and grew into a vision for transformative retreats.We also explore why so many of us feel nature is out of reach, how slowing down can spark huge personal breakthroughs, and why cultivating safe, authentic spaces—especially for men—matters so much right now.Join us for a thoughtful, honest dialogue about what it takes to get back to ourselves and each other.Joe DeLoss is a serial entrepreneur and servant leader focused on building transformational experiences and businesses for the betterment of everyone involved.He’s best known for a Midwest restaurant chain he built and exited called Hot Chicken Takeover. The business gave Joe the privilege of leading nearly 1,000 people impacted by adversity, ranging from incarceration to addiction to bouts of homelessness.HCT earned critical acclaim as a break-out brand in the industry and garnered national attention, enabling Joe to encourage and coach countless other entrepreneurs and leaders towards impact. He continues this legacy of HR innovation through a fractional culture practice he co-founded called HRT Systems.Currently, Joe’s pulling a new thread of personal and professional development by launching Baker Road, a retreat center andguide-service based in rural Ohio. Baker Road offers venues and experiences for individuals, teams, and leaders to truly retreat, allowing them to re-enter life and business from refreshed vantage points. From backcountry experiences to boardrooms, Joe is demonstrating the transformational power of hospitality, wildness, and grounded support.Joe’s work been highlighted by The Today Show, Forbes, Harvard Business School, Politico, The Rachael Ray Show and manyothers. He lives adventurously and abundantly on a farm in Knox County, Ohio with his wife and two wild daughters. When not serving as a “dirtbag concierge” to Baker Road guests, he spends time training for endurance races, advising entrepreneurs, and dreaming up new adventures.Moments00:00 "Crafting Transformative Experiences"07:56 "Noticing the Overlooked"12:03 "Nature, Rest, and Clarity"16:34 Facing Fear Brings Clarity22:28 "Designing Transformative Retreat Experiences"26:39 "Finding Growth Through Letting Go"34:59 "Redefining Masculinity Through Vulnerability"38:21 "Presence and Overcoming Small Burdens"45:29 "Fostering Growth Without Destination"49:34 "Unspoken Truths in Relationships"58:18 "Guides, Not Gurus"01:02:30 "Guide, Not Guru: Your Path"01:04:47 "Gratitude and Future Talks"3 key takeaways you can apply to your life and leadership:Nature is a Tonic: As Joe shares, time in nature isn’t just restorative—it can offer clarity and valuable perspective that we rarely find in our busy, achievement-driven lives.False Summits Are Real: Just like hiking a mountain, our professional and personal lives are filled with “false summits”—those moments we think we’ve “arrived,” only to realize there’s more journey ahead. Embracing that can keep us humble and open to growth.Leaders Need Safe Spaces, Too: Even (and especially) high-impact leaders need places where they can be seen and supported as humans—not just by their titles and achievements.In each episode, Jeff and Eric will talk about what emotional intelligence, or understanding your emotions, can do for you in your daily and work life. For more information, contact Eric or Jeff at [e-mail], or go to their website, Spirit of EQ.You can follow The Spirit of EQ Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Android, or on your favorite podcast player.New episodes are available on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays every month!Please review our podcast on iTunes. Click on the link for an easy, step-by-step tutorial.Music from Uppbeathttps://uppbeat.io/t/roo-walker/deeperLicense code: PEYKDJHQNGSZXDUEhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/We hope you enjoy the podcast. ...