What does it take to lead an idea the market isn't ready for yet?

Most leaders I work with can spot a problem in seconds. Fewer can see the opportunity sitting inside it, and fewer still have the patience to sell that opportunity through a long, skeptical buying cycle.

In this episode of The Perfect Route, I sit down with Jonathan Jakubowski, co-founder and CEO of SmartSolve, the Bowling Green, Ohio company behind PureNil 0, a 100% bio-based, water-soluble packaging material. Jonathan shares how a business plan written after a failure became a conviction, why he prefers innovation to mandates, and what it really takes to lead at the front of the adoption curve.

In this conversation, we cover:

• Why problems and opportunities are two sides of the same coin
• How innovation, not regulation, has solved some of history's messiest problems
• What long sales cycles teach you about patience and qualifying risk
• Why respecting the old solution makes you better at building the new one
• The case for multiple bottom lines, chosen rather than mandated
• Why the best step you can take is the next step

Whether you're leading a team through change or trying to win buy-in for a new idea, this conversation offers a practical lens on conviction, patience, and stewardship.

Listen on your favorite platform:

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | n3ed.com/podcast

#ThePerfectRoute #BillSodeman #Leadership #Innovation #Stewardship #Sustainability #PurposeDrivenBusiness #LeadershipDevelopment #PodcastForLeaders

Why does your personal brand sound like everyone else's?

Scroll LinkedIn for five minutes and you'll see it: different faces, different industries, same story, same buzzwords. Most professionals don't have a talent problem. They have a visibility problem, and the shortcut they're reaching for is making it worse.

In this episode of The Perfect Route, I sit down with Tiyon L. Simpson, a London-born personal branding and brand positioning consultant now based in Bulgaria, where he and his wife run three businesses. Tiyon spent nearly ten years in corporate financial services before he asked himself why he wasn't on the other side of the table.

In this conversation, we cover:

• Why every brand starts with "the why underneath the why"
• How AI-generated branding produces forgettable, cookie-cutter profiles
• Why brand building works like dating, with milestones instead of instant results
• What a beginner with $20 can learn from Emma Grede's approach to showing up
• Why executives already have a personal brand, whether or not they manage it
• Where branding is headed: back to real, human storytelling

Whether you're a rising executive, a new business owner, or a coach building a practice, this episode will change how you think about your reputation.

Listen on your favorite platform:
YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | n3ed.com/podcast

#PersonalBranding #BrandPositioning #Leadership #ExecutivePresence #Entrepreneurship #Storytelling #AIandBusiness #ThePerfectRoute #BillSodeman

What does leadership look like when every mistake costs capital?

Most leaders I work with have more room for error than they realize. A pharmaceutical startup doesn't. The team is small, the specialists can't cover for each other, and a single drug can take a decade to reach the finish line, with no guarantee it gets there.

In this episode of The Perfect Route, I sit down with Isaiah Shalwitz, Senior Vice President and co-founder of Inversa, a pharmaceutical company developing an eye drop for diabetic keratopathy, a condition with no approved treatment. Isaiah brings twenty years of drug development experience, including leading development teams at Akebia Therapeutics.

In this conversation, we cover:

• Why the pharmaceutical industry struggles to tell the story of how hard it works, and what drug failures have to do with drug prices
• How Isaiah measures engagement on a small, largely virtual team where he rarely sees his people
• Why he invites anyone in the company to challenge strategy, and what he learns when someone goes quiet
• The "blob of paint" approach to collaboration that cuts busywork and speeds up decisions
• What the next twenty years of pharmaceutical innovation may bring, from GLP-1s to longevity research
• The two lessons ten years of entrepreneurship taught him: persist, and assume you don't know everything

Whether you lead a startup, a specialized team, or a department that runs lean, you'll come away with practical habits for building candor, ownership, and momentum.

Listen on your favorite platform:

YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | n3ed.com/podcast

#StartupLeadership #Entrepreneurship #EmployeeEngagement #LeadershipDevelopment #Biotech #PharmaceuticalIndustry #ThePerfectRoute #BillSodeman #PodcastForLeaders