Abha Bowers has a lot going on. As the CEO of Walk West, a fitness and nutrition coach, and mom to two young kids, she was feeling the pressure of doing all the things. So she made a choice - it was time to step down from Walk West.

She scheduled a meeting with Chairman Donald Thompson and handed him her resignation letter.

But he wouldn't accept it.

Today, Donald and Abha talk about that interaction, lessons learned about empathetic leadership, and the reality of work/life balance.

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(00:00:07) Embracing Challenges for Leadership Growth and Change
(00:06:59) "I assumed that I had to resign one role to do another."

(00:17:02) "Being a high performer is about the skills, the aptitude and attitudes that you take. And those things are mobile with you. So don't let your performance be dictated by your current environment."
(00:24:04) Empathy-Driven Leadership for Team Success

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Today's episode is hosted by Jason Gillikin, and produced by Earfluence.

Nichole Lowe was happy enough at her corporate job, but then a life-threatening event happened where she decided it was time to reprioritize. She realized life was short, and she wanted more.

Long before the coaching boom, she became a nutrition coach, and absolutely loved it. But with coaching, she discovered a huge challenge - while anyone could be a coach, no one was helping these coaches run their businesses.

So she founded Zoee.

Today, Nichole talks about the growth of Zoee and the reasons WHY coaching in entrepreneurship is so valuable to growth.

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(00:02:50) "In that moment, the hospital wanted to do open heart surgery."

(00:08:14) "I'm excited. I've got this great training, but on graduation, I have no idea what to do. I don't know where to start. I've got to figure out billing and scheduling and CRM and et cetera, et cetera. And it's just chaotic out there. So that's when I thought, you know what? There's got to be a better way. I had my shark tank moment."
(00:10:21) Finding the Streamlined Solution for Coach Business Management

(00:29:18) Why the User Base Doubled

(00:36:11) "A coach isn't going to provide advice to you. She's just going to help you find that answer within you."

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Today's episode is hosted by Jason Gillikin, and produced by Earfluence.

5 years ago, Donald Thompson invested in our company Earfluence because he saw an untapped opportunity to leverage podcasting to amplify your expertise. But this isn't about the growth of the business Earfluence - this is about the rise of "Earfluence" as a concept.

Through his work as an executive coach, his leadership with The Diversity Movement, and through hosting his own podcast High Octane Leadership, Don has seen the influence podcasting in overall business strategy.

He sees podcasting as a dual-faceted tool: creating your own podcast to establish your voice and brand, and participating as a guest on others' shows to gain third-party credibility and reach new audiences. With an emphasis on content reuse, Don knows the power of podcasting to offer consistent, impactful communication, making it a low-cost, high-impact platform for building personal brands and business relationships.

In a world where just about everyone doubts the marketing messages they receive - podcasting is viewed as authentic content that can bridge trust gaps and open doors to significant business opportunities, just like it has for Don.

Let's find out how.

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(00:00:35) Authentic Storytelling for Business Growth

(00:06:05) Podcast Repurposing for Marketing Success

(00:09:37) Strategic Brand Building Through Podcast Guesting

(00:15:40) Podcasting: Establishing Trust and Credibility

(00:19:07) Leveraging Individual Customers for Business Growth

(00:23:19) AI's Role in Enhancing Podcast Content

(00:31:24) Transformative Journey: Overcoming Fear in Podcasting

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Today's episode is hosted by Jason Gillikin, and produced by Earfluence.