What happens when your best performer becomes a supervisor or leader?

They may be excellent at the work, but that does not automatically mean they know how to coach, manage, delegate, or develop the people around them.

In this episode of Business Growth Spotlight, Heidi Schalk sits down with Jack Shade, founder of Infinite CXO, to talk about what really happens when businesses promote high performers into leadership without giving them the tools to lead.

Jack shares a practical approach built around four leadership hats: doer, manager, leader, and coach. The goal is not to eliminate any one of these roles, but to help leaders recognize which hat they need to wear and when.

The conversation also explores why founders and executives can become bottlenecks when they stay in fix it mode, how frontline employees often hold the answers leadership needs, and why coaching should become part of the culture rather than something reserved for executives.

Jack shares a powerful client example where a company discovered that what looked like a revenue problem was actually an organizational alignment and communication problem. Employees were spending 60 to 75 percent of their time redoing work because information was not moving effectively between departments. After addressing the underlying issues, the company quadrupled revenue in two years and nearly tripled its margin.

He also explains how capturing the knowledge of high performers can transform training and processes, why mindset, skill set, and process need to be evaluated separately, and how peer to peer coaching can change relationships across an organization.

The conversation goes beyond traditional consulting and asks a bigger question: What happens when you stop telling people what to do and start helping them discover how to make the business better?

Bio:

He is the Founder of Infinite CXO, a Business Transformation Firm based in Denver, NC, that merges consulting, executive experience, and true coaching to help leaders, teams, and organizations unlock their full potential and drive sustainable growth. Since founding the firm in 2023, his team has worked alongside companies in a do-it-together model, creating strategic focus, aligning people, and building repeatable paths to lasting impact on the business and their people.

It has been said that good leaders fix problems but great leaders resolve the underlying issues that cause the problems. The Infinite Coach methodology helps leaders stay out of "Fix-it-mode" and empowers the team to resolve the underlying issues.

Beyond Infinite CXO, he is CEO of Life's Thoughts, a webapp that provides subscribers a platform to create video memories that will be shared on key dates beyond their passing. He also serves as Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator for Belmont Abbey College Women's Basketball.

Rooted in service, integrity, and the belief that investing in people multiplies outcomes, he is passionate about helping leaders move from chaos to clarity and build organizations that thrive with purpose and enduring impact.

To connect with our guest, click on the links below:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackshadecxo/

Website: www.infinitecxo.com

Connect with me:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischalkcoaching/

Website: https://hlhgrowthsolutions.com

🎁Spotlight to Scale Blueprint: https://spotlighttoscale.com/blueprint

Why do good companies stop growing? Host Heidi Schalk talks with Craig Apatov, founder and managing partner of Ascension Growth and Innovation Strategies, a 25 year old consulting firm focused entirely on top line growth for middle market companies and divisions of global corporations.

Craig explains war gaming, where leaders study their own business through a competitor's eyes, and why growth strategies so often stall during execution. He walks through Ascension's AIMS framework (Analytics, Insight mining, Marketing optimization, Sales enablement) and shares how market research helped Midwest Can launch the Flame Shield Safety System and become the first fuel container brand to own safety. He also reveals what drives his own firm's visibility, the costly lesson of buying an email list, and his parting truth: when executives say everything is fine, it never is.

Bio:

Craig Apatov is an accomplished senior level executive with over 30 years of experience working for several of the world’s leading Fortune 100 organizations.

In 2003 after a long and decorated career of strategic marketing and business development accomplishment, he founded Ascension Growth & Innovation Strategies (management consulting) and Ascension Studios (agency) both Atlanta-based firms focused on helping companies accelerate organic growth and improve business performance.

Ascension works extensively with growth focused, middle market companies and private equity organizations in the industrial manufacturing, financial services, consumer products, business services, and healthcare industries.

Prior to starting Ascension, Apatov worked in general management, strategic marketing, and business development roles at Foote Cone & Belding Advertising, ConAgra Brands, Walt Disney, Time Warner, Citibank, General Motors, Miller Zell Retail Solutions and Mattel Toys.

He is known for his significant accomplishments in the areas of growth strategy, new product/service development, and business model transformation. Apatov served as Chief Marketing Officer in three different organizations. Among his most noted professional accomplishments were:

-The creation of $150 million in marketing partnerships for Walt Disney animated television programming

-The successful development and launch of the GMAC/Ally Bank – now the nation’s largest and most successful online financial services provider with assets over $180 billion.

-Spearheading Citigroup’s move into ecommerce with the development of the first virtual credit card, digital wallet, and online shopping portals as part of a massive project called “Click Citi”

-The development of the original go-to-market strategy for AutoTrader.com – now the world’s dominant online automotive marketplace

-At Con Agra, led the strategic reformulation and aggressive national ad campaign for Hunt’s Ketchup focused on the brand’s superior taste doubling market share vs. category leader Heinz

-Repositioning of Mattel Hot Wheels business leveraging core brand “racing” equity to expand into race sets, battery operated vehicles, and radio-controlled cars thereby doubling brand revenue

Apatov holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida and has done graduate work at the University of Southern California. He has lived and worked in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta and conducted business around the globe.

He guest lectures on progressive strategic growth and advanced marketing/sales enablement topics at the undergraduate and graduate levels for Georgia State University, University of West Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State, Emory University and the University of Georgia as well as many professional organizations. He also teaches “growth strategy” for the Herndon Directors Institute targeting minority executives in Fortune 500 firms seeking board roles.

Craig is married and lives in the Douglasville, Georgia and Chattanooga, TN. His wife is a senior executive for Paramount/CBS Television, and they have two grown children, both married.

To connect with our guest, click on the links below:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigapatov/

Website: https://ascensionstrategy.com/

Connect with me:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischalkcoaching/

Website: https://hlhgrowthsolutions.com

🎁Spotlight to Scale Blueprint: https://spotlighttoscale.com/blueprint

Ben Cooper, founder of Amplify, joins Heidi Schalk to talk about what really happens when a business grows beyond the point where the owner can rely on gut instinct alone.

They discuss using financial forecasting to make better growth decisions, why business owners often avoid their numbers, how AI can support financial strategy without replacing human judgment, and why growth should ultimately support the life you want to live.

Ben also shares how Amplify uses relationships, education, and practical tools like Cash Flow Mountain to help business owners see their options more clearly and move forward with confidence.

Bio:

Ben launched Amplify to give founder-led businesses a real Finance Seat — forward-looking finance without the full-time CFO price tag. He's happiest making the complex simple so others can build their business in a way they can enjoy a life of meaning.

To connect with our guest, click on the links below:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-cooper-amplify/

Website: https://amplify.business/

Connect with me:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischalkcoaching/

Website: https://hlhgrowthsolutions.com

🎁Spotlight to Scale Blueprint: https://spotlighttoscale.com/blueprint

Great Ideas Don't Fail. Teams Do. with Dr. Nikki Blacksmith of Symeta Behavior Science

What really determines whether a business succeeds? According to Dr. Nikki Blacksmith, it's rarely the idea. It's the people behind it.

In this episode of the Business Growth Spotlight, Heidi Schalk sits down with Dr. Nikki Blacksmith, a scientist practitioner of behavior science and founder of Symeta Behavior Science. Nikki's path runs from industrial organizational psychology to a postdoc at the Army Research Institute studying military decision making, to building hiring assessments at Gallup. When she discovered that 97 to 98 percent of venture capital goes to men, she stepped off the tenure track and founded Symeta to help investors evaluate teams on capability rather than connections.

Nikki shares why investors would rather back an A team with a B idea than a B team with an A idea, and breaks down the behaviors that separate teams who thrive through rapid growth from those who stall: the right mix of skills, decisive action over analysis paralysis, a deep understanding of the customer, and trust at every level. She walks through a real client story where two partners with opposite working styles unknowingly confused their entire team, and how building psychological safety turned them into a unit so cohesive their limited partners noticed. She even shares how she and her own cofounder resolved a persistent communication clash once they discovered one was an abstract thinker and the other a concrete one.

The conversation also explores leadership in the AI era, why expertise matters more than ever for spotting AI output that doesn't hold up, the three cognitive biases that quietly derail growth decisions, and the hard lesson Symeta learned about leading with expert jargon instead of the customer's language.

To connect with our guest, click on the links below:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkiblacksmith/

Website: https://www.symeta.science/

Connect with me:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischalkcoaching/

Website: https://hlhgrowthsolutions.com

🎁Spotlight to Scale Blueprint: https://spotlighttoscale.com/blueprint

Your business is working. The bills are paid, clients are coming in, and everything is fine. So why does it feel like you are running in place? In this episode of the Business Growth Spotlight, host Heidi Schalk sits down with Jim McLaughlin, partner at Effective Action Consulting, to talk about what it really takes to step off the treadmill and actually go somewhere with your business.

Jim is a former engineering geologist turned business consultant who has spent 17 years guiding business owners through the hidden structures that shape leadership, communication, and growth. Effective Action Consulting was founded in 1993, and Jim brings a rare blend of scientific curiosity and practical business insight to every client he works with.

Jim shares the signs that a founder or leadership team has hit a plateau, from the quiet feeling of dread to the frustration of a team that just doesn't seem to share the vision. He tells the story of a small business owner who finally declared "I can't go on like this anymore," stepped into public speaking and networking despite the fear, and went on to double their revenue. He explains why he sees every business as a network of conversations, and why his rule of thumb is that most businesses operate at around 40% efficiency, leaving enormous room for growth.

The conversation also turns to AI. Jim shares how a single prompt about chamber music hooked him on the possibilities, how he learned the hard way that outsourcing too much of his creativity stopped sounding like him, and how he now uses AI as a project manager to keep more than 20 projects moving. He reflects on why human adaptation has always outpaced new technology, from desktop publishing to today.

Finally, Jim opens up about building visibility beyond referrals, the mindset shift that made online marketing feel authentic instead of manipulative, how to stay true to who you are while using modern marketing tools, and the next mountain he is climbing with his upcoming online program, the Pathway to Extraordinary.

Bio:

Jim McLaughlin is a business consultant and former engineering geologist who helps business owners uncover the hidden structures that shape leadership, communication, and growth. Having practiced this work for more than 28 years—and professionally guided business owners for the past 17—Jim brings scientific curiosity together with practical business insight, helping leaders see familiar challenges through a new lens and take more effective action.

To connect with our guest, click on the links below:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmclaughlin27/

IG: @youarewhoyouchoosetobe (IG)

Website: www.effectiveactionconsulting.com

Connect with me:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischalkcoaching/

Website: https://hlhgrowthsolutions.com

🎁Spotlight to Scale Blueprint: https://spotlighttoscale.com/blueprint

What if leaving corporate did not require leaping off a cliff? In this episode of the Business Growth Spotlight, Heidi Schalk sits down with Kimberly Nicole Evans, founder of Seismic Transformations and founding partner of Renel Evans Limited and Beck Evans Limited, joining us from Hawaii with an ocean view you have to see on YouTube.

After years in banking and executive leadership, including one year with 52 round trips, Kimberly built three businesses that take less of her time than her corporate career ever did. She shares the Bridge 40 Method, her framework for professionals over 40 with real responsibilities who want to build something of their own without risking everything. Kimberly and Heidi talk about where our beliefs actually come from, why partnerships beat going it alone, how to build a business that runs without you so it becomes a sellable asset, and why hustle culture creates the very struggle it glorifies. She also shares how a client went from exhausted to thriving in 90 days, and why reputation and follow up outperformed her expensive PR spend.

Kimberly is gifting a free ebook of. Message her on LinkedIn (Kimberly Nicole Evans) and mention Heidi's show, or book a quick 15 minute call at seismictransformations.com. You can also download the ST360 app on iOS and Android for the companion course and custom GPT.

Bio:

Kimberly Nicole Evans

CEO & Founder, Seismic Transformations

Kimberly N. Evans is a visionary leader, strategist, and mentor dedicated to empowering professionals and business leaders to achieve transformative success. As the CEO and Founder of Seismic Transformations, she provides expert mentorship and strategic guidance, helping individuals and organizations unlock their full potential.

In addition to her leadership at Seismic Transformations, Kimberly is a founding partner of BeckEvans Limited Co. and Renel Evans Ltd. Co., global consulting firms that support emerging businesses with strategic growth initiatives. Her extensive background spans finance, banking, wealth management, and executive leadership, shaping her expertise in navigating complex business landscapes.

A former U.S. Army service member, Kimberly has held strategic roles across leading financial institutions and served as Chief Financial Officer for a high-growth middle-market company. Her dynamic career reflects a deep understanding of financial strategy, leadership development, and business transformation.

As a Certified Consultant with the Proctor Gallagher Institute—an institution rooted in the success principles of Andrew Carnegie, Napoleon Hill, and Earl Nightingale—Kimberly is committed to developing visionary leaders and fostering lasting professional growth.

A proud graduate of Texas Southern University, Kimberly holds a Master’s in Business Administration. With an unwavering commitment to excellence, she continues to inspire and equip professionals and entrepreneurs with the tools to redefine success and build generational impact.

To connect with our guest, click on the links below:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-nicole-evans

Website: renelevans.com

🎁 The first five listeners to reach out to Kimberly on LinkedIn will get a free audio copy of The Bridge 40 Method

Connect with me:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischalkcoaching/

Website: https://hlhgrowthsolutions.com

🎁Spotlight to Scale Blueprint: https://spotlighttoscale.com/blueprint

Dave Sanderson is best known as the last passenger off US Airways Flight 1549, the flight the world remembers as the Miracle on the Hudson. In this episode of the Business Growth Spotlight, host Heidi Schalk sits down with Dave to unpack what that day actually taught him about leadership, and how a former Oracle sales executive and Tony Robbins security director turned one of the most famous survival stories in aviation into a business case for making better decisions under pressure.

Dave walks through his ASSESS framework, the six step decision making process he reverse engineered from that day: acknowledge reality, scan for options, select the best next step, execute without hesitation, support others, and stay calm while moving fast. He and Heidi dig into why the strongest leaders share just two traits, resourcefulness and the willingness to actually decide, and why so many companies stall the moment their stated values get pushed aside under pressure.

The conversation gets practical about growth too. Dave shares the "who not how" philosophy that finally let him scale, the idea that proximity is power (a lesson borrowed from his years with Tony Robbins), and the COVID mask story that turned a single "how can I help" into a lesson about broken supply chains and bureaucracy. On visibility, he opens up about the LinkedIn strategy shift that doubled his following in three months, built on founder led storytelling rather than generic teaching.

Bio:

Dave Sanderson is an internationally recognized leadership speaker, bestselling author, and resilience expert best known as the last passenger out of US Airways Flight 1549, the Miracle on the Hudson. Drawing from that defining experience, his career as a top Oracle sales executive, and years as Tony Robbins' Security Director, Dave equips entrepreneurs and executive leaders to make better decisions under pressure, build resilient teams, and lead with confidence through change. He has spoken to more than 1,700 audiences worldwide, sharing practical strategies that help leaders and organizations turn their disruption into their competitive advantage in an increasingly complex business environment.

To connect with our guest, click on the links below:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiredavesanderson

Website: https://davesandersonspeaks.com/

🎁Grab the free diagnostic: https://resiliencepartnersgroup.com/

Connect with me:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischalkcoaching/

Website: https://hlhgrowthsolutions.com

🎁Spotlight to Scale Blueprint: https://spotlighttoscale.com/blueprint

In this episode of the Business Growth Spotlight, host Heidi Schalk sits down with Angus MacDonald, director and co-founder of A&S International, a British company that acts as a master distributor for niche maintenance and reliability solutions across heavy industry worldwide. Angus makes a refreshing case that innovation is not always about inventing something new. Often it is about helping companies pull more performance, more reliability, and more profit out of the critical assets they already run.

Angus explains why downtime is the most expensive thing that can happen to an offshore oil and gas platform or a 24/7 waste to energy plant, and how the right solution turns a maintenance headache into a genuine return on investment. He shares how sustainability has quietly shifted from a compliance checkbox into a core business strategy, and why net zero credentials now matter to the shareholders and buyers his clients are trying to win.

The stories carry real numbers. A British operator responsible for critical gas infrastructure used Fluitec's DECON, a group five base oil added at just five percent, to dissolve varnish contamination in its turbines and compressors without any downtime, and is now rolling it out to a third depot. A waste to energy client avoided replacing 8,000 liters of turbine oil entirely. An offshore platform in Aberdeen added two drums of DECON to a critical gas turbine and conservatively estimated $4 million in savings. As Angus puts it, at those figures it becomes a bit of a no brainer.

From there the conversation turns to leadership and growth. Angus argues that agility is the quality that matters most right now, and that human expertise will stay indispensable even as AI reshapes industrial operations. On the marketing side he is candid about what works and what does not.

To connect with our guest, click on the links below:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angus-macdonald-asinternational/

Website: https://aands.international/

Connect with me:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischalkcoaching/

Website: https://hlhgrowthsolutions.com

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🎁Spotlight to Scale Blueprint: https://spotlighttoscale.com/blueprint