In this episode of Alignment First, I sit down with Eric Coonrod, founder of E. Coonrod & Co. and author of The Preparation Principle, to break down the real truth behind selling a business. We dive into the hidden friction of M&A, the psychology of founders during exit, and what it actually takes to prepare for a successful transition—before, during, and after the deal.

Key Takeaways

1. Most founders underestimate the time, cost, and emotional toll of selling a business.
2. The best time to prepare for a sale is the day you start the company.
3. Identity loss post-sale is one of the biggest blind spots entrepreneurs face.
4. Deal fatigue and seller’s remorse derail more deals than lack of opportunity.
5. The right team (M&A attorney, tax advisor, wealth manager, accountant) is non-negotiable.

Quotes

• “Deal fatigue is real and it kills more deals than bad offers.” – Eric Coonrod
• “Your business isn’t just your income. It’s your identity.” – Eric Coonrod
• “The best time to prepare for a sale is the day you start the company.” – Eric Coonrod

Connect with Eric Coonrod
📧 eric@ecoonrod.com
🌐 https://ecoonrodco.com

📘 The Preparation Principle on Amazon

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Alignment First. Progress Always.

#AlignmentFirst #Leadership #MandA #IdentityLeadership #Entrepreneurship #Podcast #Business #PeacePresencePower

What if your leadership ceiling isn’t a strategy problem…but a health and self-awareness problem?

In this episode of Alignment First, I sit down with Dr. Pat Boulogne — chiropractor, acupuncturist, entrepreneur, and executive mentor — for one of the most wide-ranging and thought-provoking conversations I’ve had on the show.

From selling lemonade at four years old to building and exiting a high-volume chiropractic practice, to mentoring executives on judgment and sustainable performance, Dr. Pat embodies integration.

Dr. Pat breaks down her three-brain model (reptile, mammalian, and conscious) and how most leaders are unknowingly operating from reactive survival patterns instead of conscious leadership.

If you want durable performance physically, mentally, financially, you must upgrade the quality of your internal dialogue and the inputs you tolerate.

We also unpack:

• Functional medicine vs. sick care

• Why early symptoms are data, not inconveniences

• The gut-brain connection and its impact on decision-making

• Boundaries, burnout, and knowing when to sell at your peak

• Why alignment isn’t optional for high performers

And it all comes back to alignment.

Key Takeaways

1. “You’re not what you eat. You’re what you can absorb.”

2. Most people don’t resist health — they resist knowing.

3. Insurance covers sick care. You are responsible for health care.

4. Your reptile brain agrees with your circumstances — your conscious brain must interrupt the pattern.

5. Durable performance comes from fewer interventions and higher-quality judgment.

Quotes

• “Executives are paid for their judgment. Health is the same.”

• “If you say you’re sick, your reptile brain will prove you right.”

• “Denial keeps you comfortable — until the bill comes due.”

• “I’m a very good doctor. I’m looking for a very good patient.”

Connect with Dr. Pat

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/drpatboulogne/
Website: healthteamnetwork.com
Facebook & Instagram: Ask Dr. Pat

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✅ Clarity | Coaching | Consistency | Community → NextLevelHQ.co⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

✅ Ready to be the Fittest Leader Possible? → NextLevelHQ.co/blog

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#AlignmentFirst #Leadership #ExecutiveHealth #FunctionalMedicine #Mindset #DurablePerformance #HighPerformance #Ownership #Alignment #Podcast

Dr. Ruth N. Faucette, PhD is a relationship-driven psychotherapist and executive leadership consultant who built her foundation in medical academia at Virginia Tech and went on to train physicians in holistic care and leadership development. In this episode of Alignment First, we unpack the Four Ps quietly sabotaging high performers: perfection, proving, pleasing, and performing.

If you’re a driven leader who gets results but feels the strain underneath the surface, this conversation will hit. We explore why authenticity is more than a buzzword, how vulnerability builds trust instead of weakness, and why chasing perfection disconnects you from your team.

Dr. Ruth shares how relationships before agenda is her current growth edge and how sustainable leadership requires alignment across biological, psychological, social, and spiritual domains.

This episode is a recalibration for founders, executives, and high achievers who are ready to stop auditioning and start leading.

Key Takeaways:
1. Perfection blocks connection and erodes trust
2. Proving creates division and keeps leaders stuck in “me” instead of “we”
3. Pleasing breeds resentment and weakens standards
4. Performing without authenticity leads to burnout
5. Sustainable leadership starts with self-awareness and courageous feedback

Notable Quotes:
• “Relationships before agenda.”
• “Authenticity is the most powerful approach you can take as a leader.”
• “You’re not leading. You’re auditioning.”
• “Pleasing feels kind, but it often avoids courage.”
• “Alignment comes before sustainable performance.”

Connect with Dr. Ruth:
• Website: https://https://www.legendaryleadershipbydrruthfaucette.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-ruth-n-faucette-phd-010a475a/

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✅ Clarity | Coaching | Consistency | Community → NextLevelHQ.co⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

✅ Ready to be the Fittest Leader Possible? → NextLevelHQ.co/blog

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Partners & Sponsors

@ThorneHealth → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thorne.com/u/progressalways

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Alignment First. Progress Always.

#AlignmentFirst #LeadershipDevelopment #ExecutiveCoaching #AuthenticLeadership #HighPerformance #NextLevel #PersonalGrowth #FounderLife #LeadershipMindset #ProgressAlways

Most leaders don’t have an information problem.

They have an adaptation problem.

In this episode of Alignment First, I sit down with Logan Gelbrich — founder of Deuce Gym, creator of the Hold The Standard Summit, and author of Going Right — to unpack the difference between technical challenges and adaptive ones… and why that distinction changes everything about how you build teams, culture, and capacity.

We get into group dynamics, leadership containers, the shadow side of “doing hard things,” and why most organizations are stuck having conversations they refuse to name.

If you lead people — or want to — this is required listening.

Key Takeaways:

• Not all problems are technical — many require personal and organizational adaptation.

• High-performing cultures reduce the gap between what’s said publicly and what’s only thought privately.

• Fitness (and most tactics) are free — value is created through coaching and development.

• Growth requires confronting the shadow side of your strengths.

• Leaders must build containers of trust and willingness to unlock real performance.

  Quotes:

• “You don’t need a better technique. You need to become a different person.”

• “Most leaders don’t lack information. They lack adaptation.”

• “Fitness is free. Coaching is not.”

• “If you can’t say the hard thing out loud, you don’t have a performance problem. You have a container problem.”

• “Is it still mental toughness if another hard workout is easier than having a hard conversation?”

Connect with Logan:

Website: https://holdthestandard.com
Gym: https://deucegym.com
Instagram: @functionalcoach
Podcast: Hold The Standard Podcast

___________________________________________________________________________________

Stay Connected & Take Action

✅ Clarity | Coaching | Consistency | Community → NextLevelHQ.co⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

✅ Ready to be the Fittest Leader Possible? → NextLevelHQ.co/blog

✅ Subscribe to Alignment First → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/coachderz/

Partners & Sponsors

@ThorneHealth → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thorne.com/u/progressalways

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Alignment First. Progress Always.

#LeadershipDevelopment #AdaptiveLeadership #OrganizationalCulture #FittestLeader #AlignmentFirst #LoganGelbrich #HighPerformance #StrengthAndConditioning #ExecutiveCoaching #IntegrityCourageOwnership

Bella Vasta didn’t stumble into systems, hiring, or AI. She earned them through necessity. From building a six-figure pet sitting business in Scottsdale to navigating NICU nights, divorce, and reinvention, Bella’s story is a masterclass in resilience, identity, and intentional infrastructure.

In this conversation, we unpack why most business owners resist systems until crisis forces their hand, how AI is not replacing human connection but protecting it, and why alignment, not grind, is the real unlock for sustainable success.

If you’re running your business on gut instinct and prayer, this episode will challenge you in the best way.

Key Takeaways

1. Systems aren’t restrictive—they’re what allow freedom during life’s hardest seasons

2. AI isn’t about speed; it’s about reclaiming your genius

3. Hiring is marketing—and culture is a two-way love letter

4. Nervous system regulation is a business skill, not a luxury

5. Alignment beats effort when effort is misdirected

Quotes

• “If you’re in business long enough, something will happen and your systems will decide if you survive it.”

• “AI doesn’t replace your humanity. It protects it.”

• “Hiring isn’t transactional. It’s relational.”

• “Your business will never outgrow your identity.”

• “Ease isn’t laziness. It’s alignment.”

Connect with Bella

Instagram & Facebook: @BellaVasta

Website: http://www.bellaVasta.com

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✅ Clarity | Coaching | Consistency | Community → NextLevelHQ.co⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

✅ Ready to be the Fittest Leader Possible? → NextLevelHQ.co/blog

✅ Subscribe to Alignment First → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/coachderz/

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Alignment First. Progress Always.

#AlignmentFirst #Leadership #AIForBusiness #SystemsThinking #Entrepreneurship #HiringSystems #FounderLife #PeacePresencePower

This episode is a deep, honest exploration of what happens after the uniform comes off. I got to jam with Ed Lubowicki—former Notre Dame lacrosse player, ex–Deloitte consultant, and founder of Lubowicki Performance Advisory—to unpack the identity shift athletes face when sport ends, and how to intentionally transcend and include the best parts of that chapter into the next one.

Ed shares insights from 400+ conversations with athletes navigating life beyond competition, challenging the narrative that “athletes die twice,” and reframing transition as a bigger Plan A: not a fallback.

In this conversation we explore stoicism, process over outcomes, intentional adversity, and why support systems matter more than willpower alone.

Key takeaways

• Why most athletes undervalue their lived experience, and how that creates friction post-sport

• The difference between knowing resilience and practicing it through intentional adversity

• How identity stories can stall momentum; and how to update the narrative without erasing the past

• Why outcomes don’t tell the whole story, and how to reclaim agency through process

• How to rebuild the scaffolding of support that once existed in sport

Quotes

• “Athletes don’t need an option B. They need a bigger option A.”

• “You don’t just fall out of shape or alignment. You fall out of a system.”

• “Resilience isn’t learned in theory. It’s earned in experience.”

• “The story that got you here might not be the one that keeps you here.”

Connect with the Guest

• Website: https://luboadvisory.com

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edlubowicki/

_____________________________________________________________

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✅ Clarity | Coaching | Consistency | Community → NextLevelHQ.co⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

✅ Ready to be the Fittest Leader Possible? → NextLevelHQ.co/blog

✅ Subscribe to Alignment First → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/coachderz/

Partners & Sponsors

@ThorneHealth → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thorne.com/u/progressalways

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@StrongCoffee → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠strongcoffeecompany.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ — Code: NEXTLEVEL15

Alignment First. Progress Always!

#AlignmentFirst #AthletesBeyondSport #IdentityWork #LeadershipDevelopment #ProgressAlways

In this episode, I sit down with Rita Hudgens, holistic mindset life coach and founder of Transform University, for a grounded, coach-to-coach conversation on identity, flow, healing, and what it really means to build a life that feels aligned, not just impressive on paper.

What began as a reconnection through shared space at the gym evolves into a deep dialogue on mountaintops and valleys, hustle culture, redefining contribution, and the courage required to outgrow identities that once fueled success but now quietly drain peace.

Rita shares her journey through near-death illness, divorce, long-haul COVID, and decades of leadership alongside professional athletics: revealing how self-awareness, faith, and intentional action became the foundation of Transform University. I got to reflect on my own evolution from force-driven leadership to alignment-first living, unpacking how presence, time, and legacy become the real metrics of success.

This conversation is honest, reflective, and deeply human: especially for high performers who have achieved a lot but sense there’s a more integrated way to live, lead, and serve.

Key Takeaways

• Alignment isn’t about doing less—it’s about doing what matters most

• Flow is a promise that must be protected intentionally

• Identity evolves fastest when environment and circles of influence evolve too

• Healing and growth require action, not just belief

• Time isn’t managed—it’s invested

Notable Quotes

• “Our strengths can be overused just as easily as they can be underused.”

• “Flow is when you’re no longer hitting your head against life.”

• “You don’t get the promise unless you act on it.”

• “We don’t need balance—we need harmony.”

• “It takes a lot of work to make life feel effortless.”

Connect with Rita
Transform University → https://transformuniversity.net

Linkedin → https://www.linkedin.com/in/rita-hudgens/

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Stay Connected & Take Action

✅ Clarity | Coaching | Consistency | Community → NextLevelHQ.co⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

✅ Ready to be the Fittest Leader Possible? → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CoachDerz.com/blog

✅ Subscribe to Alignment First → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/coachderz/

Partners & Sponsors

@ThorneHealth → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thorne.com/u/progressalways

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@StrongCoffee → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠strongcoffeecompany.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ — Code: NEXTLEVEL15

Alignment First. Progress Always

#AlignmentFirst #LeadershipDevelopment #HolisticCoaching #MindsetMatters #FlowState #IdentityWork #HighPerformance #PersonalGrowth #Presence #ProgressAlways

In this episode of Alignment First, Mycal sits down with Corbin Smith, a 30-year coaching veteran, founder of MTTS Sports Group, author of More Than the Scoreboard, and host of the More Than the Scoreboard podcast.

Corbin shares the raw reality of transitioning from athlete to coach, navigating loyalty in the coaching profession, and why self-leadership is the foundation of every great team, family, and organization. From locker-room lessons to parenting adult children, this conversation is a masterclass in integrity, accountability, and alignment.

Key Takeaways

• Why self-leadership is the non-negotiable foundation of all leadership

• The difference between loyalty and alignment in modern coaching and business

• How peer leadership creates more leaders—not followers

• Why honesty without tact fails, and tact without honesty is manipulation

• How great leaders zoom in and out without losing their North Star

Notable Quotes

• “Leadership isn’t a position—it’s a service.” - Corbin

• “If you can’t lead yourself, everything above it collapses.” - Corbin

• “The best leaders don’t create followers; they create leaders.” - Corbin

• “Imposter syndrome usually means you’re standing at the edge of growth.” - Corbin

• “You don’t avoid failure as a leader—you learn how to respond to it.” - Corbin

Connect with Corbin

• Website: https://mttssportsgroup.com/

• Podcast: More Than the Scoreboard (YouTube, Spotify, Apple)

• Book: More Than the Scoreboard (coming soon)

Stay Connected & Take Action
✅ Clarity | Coaching | Consistency | Community → NextLevelHQ.co
✅ Ready to be the Fittest Leader Possible? → CoachDerz.com/blog

✅ Subscribe to Alignment First → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/coachderz/

Partners & Sponsors
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@ThorneHealth → thorne.com/u/progressalways

#Leadership #SelfLeadership #Coaching #AthleteToLeader #AlignmentFirst #ProgressAlways