Growth Think Tank

This podcast started in 2014 to serve leaders on their journey of growth and significance with their work. It is conversations with leaders for leaders. My name is Gene Hammett, host of the show. I am proud to be recognized by Inc Magazine and Entrepreneur Magazine for our impact on leaders that are evolving to better serve their teams.

Growth Think Tank - leadership podcast on growth

This is the one and only podcast that inteviews founders and CEOs of Inc 500 companies. The interviews uncover the key principles of fast-growth. You will find topics of growth, culture, leadership and other areas of growth for leaders.

Latest Episodes…

 

019 Chris Taylor |From Dabbling in Many Target Markets to Finding the RIGHT One

Chris TaylorThere are some businesses that start out on “easy street”, but this is not one of those stories. Chris’s passion project was Actionable Books.  A couple of years after starting Actionable Books, he discovered that this could be a real business. The struggle came in when Chris began to market it to the world. In the first four years of marketing, Chris describes his approach as “dabbling” which is jumping from target market to target market.  Chris’s company was barely getting by. But the turning point came when Chris really got a handle on his ideal target market that was hungry for his offer. In this episode, we go through the ups and downs of this journey.

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018 Rick Barker | Weird Wins to Get Your Business to the Next Level

Rick BarkerIn a early conversation with his client, Taylor Swift (yes the super star), Rick Barker and Taylor developed a concept to success. It is based on the  simple idea that ‘if you are willing to do what no one else is willing to do, then you will get results that no one else would get.’ This led to a concept that Rick describes as “Weird Wins”. 98% of the people won’t do WEIRD so you only have to outwork 2%. Discover what that means in the podcast.

Also you will get the 4 pillars of building your business where most people forget one of these, but it takes all four.

    1. Branding
    2. Build an Audience
    3. Cultivate an Audience
    4. Sell

If you forget the ‘cultivate’ phase you will frustrate yourself because you are not really connecting to people. Skipping it and going directly to “Sell” and you are just yelling to others to ‘Buy your Sh**’. Read more

017 Ryan Avery | The Youngest Public Speaking World Champion on Why Your Voice is Powerful and Why You Should Use It to Serve

Ryan AveryThis episode is packed with value and surprises. Part of it is about the value of using your voice to lead and serve others. Ryan is the youngest World Champion in Public Speaking. At the age of 25, Ryan competed against 30,000 people to become a world champion. Ryan is working with aspiring speakers and executives that want to use their voice with power. We also discuss the essential steps to establishing yourself as a speaker (we even break down your first 3 steps). Even if you don’t want to be a speaker, you can use the 3 steps to have more clarity in your business to reach a new level of success.

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016 Dave Conrey|Why the REAL Battle is Fought in Your Head

Dave ConreyI’m guessing if you are are reading this, you know the very battle we are talking about and you want to know more.   Dave talks about the value of mindset and the struggles that many creatives have around their “worth”.  This episode is not just for creatives like graphic designers, artists, and crafters.  It is for all business owners that are “in the trenches” of their business.  Dave shares his experience in finding his own target market and profitable niche.  However, most of this episode is on the 90% of what we deal with inside our head as we work in our businesses.

Dave is an artist so it makes total sense that he would lean into serving other artists.  He has created a business that is aligned in the services, branding, content and results that make him so valuable to the people he serves.  Think about how that would be for your business to have complete and total alignment in the marketplace that you operate your business. Discover more about how you can

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015 Abbie Shepherd | Finding Your Personality in Your Business – Discover What this Successful Real Estate Agent Did

Abbie ShepardBuilding a business requires to you “get over” having to do it all yourself.  Abbie shares how she learned to create the leverage (or team) that has allowed her to create a more powerful business.  In the beginning, Abbie did it all in her business.  She put in the hours that eventually helped her to find her personality in business. Get the simple tools that Abbie used to find her personality in her business.  The very same tools that granted her the ability to create the business she wanted and build a team around her that took over all the tasks in her business that she hated to do while leaving her to focus only on the tasks she enjoys.

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014 John Lee Dumas | The Million Dollar Podcaster – How He Got Out of “In The Trenches”

John Lee Dumas

John Lee Dumas is the host of the wildly popular podcast “Entrepreneur on Fire”. Today he shares the pain and the fears he faced with his podcast (and in particular Day #57). John has reached a level of success that most only dream of in podcasting. But he worked hard, got really clear about his “vision” to inspire millions, and realized quickly he could not do it alone. In fact, John talks in depth about the coaching he received at the beginning of his podcast and even how much he invested BEFORE the launch of his business. (Don’t worry…the ROI has been absolutely amazing!)

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013 Laurel Staples | What This Photographer Knows About Marketing That Can Help You Change Your Business

There is a hard way and an easy way. You can choose either, but listening to this episode might help you in your decision to “focus” or “specialize” your business. Most photographers choose the hard way by offering their services to anyone and everyone. Just because you can take pictures of anyone, does not mean you should. Laurel Staples shares her journey to becoming a photographer to one specific audience and how she gets tons of referrals and built a steady stream of leads that come directly to her.

 

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012 Dr. David Phelps | Freedom is the Dream When You are “In The Trenches” – Discover What this Dentist Coach Did to Change his Mindset to Achieve Freedom

David PhelpsThis show is all about “freedom”. Entrepreneurs get into business for many reasons, but one of the huge benefits is the “freedom” that business owners have. Freedom is the dream. Freedom is the powerful force that keeps you working through the beginning stages of your business. Well, we all know that the level of freedom that we really want comes after you have built up the business so that you are no longer “in the trenches”. What does it take to get there? Learn form Dr. David Phelps, the dentist that discovered he could build a business that truly did have freedom. You will learn some of the mindset shifts necessary to create a business that gives you freedom and keeps you from having to do EVERYTHING in your business.

Get his specific approach to freedom that any business owner that is “in the trenches” can implement. Plus hear Dr. Phelps’s powerfully heartfelt reason for creating freedom in his dental practice.
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011 Jennifer Bourn | A Web Design Company that Gets It – The Benefits of Really Understanding What Your Clients Need

Jennifer BournLet me be direct and say that many web design firms don’t get it.  They attempt to be all things to all customers.  If you have listened to previous episodes here, you understand that is dangerous.  Jennifer Bourn gets it, and it shows in how she runs her company.  She really understands her customers and she knows how to market herself so that they self select themselves for their services.  They know they want to work with her company before they get on the phone.  In this interview, we talk about what got her to this strategy and the success that this approach has provided her company.

The moral of this episode is you really must know your customers and what they want so that you can be the company they want to buy from.

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010 Kevin Rogers | The #1 Way You are Screwing Up Your ‘About’ Page – And How to Fix It in 60 Seconds!

Kevin RogersKevin Rogers is the man…the man with a gift to tell a story, make you laugh and help you tell others what you do.  In today’s episode, we will discuss humor in business, the value of giving away your stuff for free and Kevin’s new book “The 60-Second Sales Hook”.  Speaking of hooks…what is your HOOK?  Does it invite conversation or does it have people running (quickly) away from you?

Kevin has reached a level of success in his business that few obtain.  He is paid thousands to write a single page of copy in a sales letter, but most often he is brought in to write and re-work all elements of marketing for big product launches.  One of his recent clients is “Bullet Proof Coffee” which is getting to be super popular these days…likely to do with Kevin’s handy work behind the keyboard.

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009 Jessica Rhodes | From a General Virtual Assistant to Mastering a Niche in Podcasting – Jessica’s Journey to Solving a Specific Problem

Jessica RhodesJessica Rhodes started her Virtual Assistant (VA) services to entrepreneurs by offering all the different services business owners wanted. She was pulled in many directions and knew that business would be better when she found her niche. She engaged a business coach to help her focus her business and she makes a very strong decision by listening to the needs of her clients. Now Jessica has a thriving business and she is uniquely positioned to offer her services. This is a great story of going from a broad approach to being very specific.

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008 Megha Rodriguez | Learn How to Be IN the Conversation with Your Ideal Client

Megha RodriguezMegha has finally found her profitable niche for her business, but it was not always the case.  Being the jack of all trades (taking any client that came along) stressed her out so she decide to find your target audience.  They key is being INSIDE the conversation with her ideal client so her marketing is more effective and delivery of her services is more complete.  Megha shares the fears she faced along the way and the successes too.

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