In this episode, Bryan sits down with Cody Alimondi—author, mental coach, and founder of House of Jester.

They dive deep into the art of role-based hiring, discovering one’s purpose, and how mindset separates high performers. Cody shares the frameworks behind his new book “Dealer’s Choice,” and offers actionable advice on finding fulfillment, building culture, and becoming the kind of leader—and human—your team needs.

Timestamps:

00:54 Cody’s journey from college athlete to author and mental coach.

08:04 The importance of purpose in life

13:17 How cultivating curiosity and interests leads to passion

20:46 Cody’s advice for getting started with writing and publishing a book.

28:00 The keys to fulfilling work: autonomy, self-directed teams, and incentives.

32:56 The difference between motivating versus managing

37:54 How non-monetary incentives—like prioritizing employee health—can transform workplace culture.

44:14 Cody's LINDA hiring framework and its impact on role-based recruiting.

55:36 Why hiring should be a thoughtful, personalized experience—and how to get it right.

58:00 Where to find Cody’s books and follow his new brand, House of Jester.

59:09 Sneak peek: Cody’s upcoming book profiling misfits who became mavericks.

Resources & Mentions:

Follow Cody on LinkedIn

• Books mentioned: Man’s Search for Meaning, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Good to Great, Bird by Bird, Work by James Suzman, Outlive.

• Dealer’s Choice – Cody’s new book

• • House of Jester – Cody’s newest project; follow @HouseofJester on Instagram
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• Thanks for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, please share, subscribe, and leave us a review. Stay tuned for more FITFO conversations.

Welcome back to another year of FITFO, Figure it the Father Out, where I interview amazing Moms, Dads, and thought leaders to uncover the compelling stories at the intersection of family, entrepreneurship, child development, health, technology and many more arenas we face in life. Today, I'm thrilled to have Joel Beasley, the "Modern CTO," join us for a deep dive into his multifaceted life journey.

His podcast has over 100K listeners and has become known as the place where CTOs hang out. Check out his weekly podcast where he hangs out with interesting Fortune 500 CTOs in Aerospace, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics + Many more industries.

In this episode, Joel opens up about the profound impact of parental influence, emphasizing how children tend to mimic their parents' behaviors. He shares his personal philosophy on work-life balance, detailing how he organizes his professional life around his family to ensure quality time with his children. Joel discusses his unique hiring insights for a Chief Technology Officer (CTO), stressing the need for cultural fit and a deep understanding of delivering customer value.

More from Joel:

ModernCTO Pod: https://moderncto.io/podcast/

Website: https://moderncto.io/

Timestamps:

00:00 His podcast launch and how he gained Microsoft CTO as a listener.

08:22 How to grow a podcast

13:51 Balancing podcasting, entrepreneurship, and parenthood challenges.

18:18 Move to the country

21:50 First Tech Endeavor

27:47 Homeschooling approach

38:25 Started a podcast after finance software success.

42:17 How to Balance work and family life

54:41 Books that transformed his journey

01:08:00 Hiring and different ways to distribute equity

01:14:15 His next venture...

Welcome back to another episode of the “Figure It the Father Out” Podcast! Today, we have the pleasure of having a New York Times Best Selling Author, Jessica Lahey, on the pod with us.

Jess speaks to parents, educators, school administrators, coaches, pastors, and community leaders about the science of learning, motivation, engagement, and substance abuse prevention, all in service to the belief that adults have the power to help kids become more autonomous, competent, connected, and fulfilled. Her first book, The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed was a New York Times bestseller and has empowered so many to strengthen home-school partnerships, support kids as they learn from their mistakes, and forge stronger, more trusting relationships with children. Her second book, The Addiction Inoculation: Raising Healthy Kids in a Culture of Dependence is the culmination of Lahey’s experience as an alcoholic with a decade of recovery, the parent of two kids, and twenty years in the classroom teaching English, Latin, and writing in every grade from six to twelve and five of those years were spent teaching in an inpatient drug and alcohol rehab for adolescents. She recently won the Research Society on Alcohol’s Media Award, “designed to recognize outstanding journalistic efforts of writers who cover empirical research on alcohol.”

Tune in for an insightful and inspiring discussion on how we can better support our children's journey of growth, both academically and personally.

More From Jess: https://www.jessicalahey.com/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/teacherlahey/?hl=en

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-lahey-b815a366/

📚 The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed

📚 The Addiction Inoculation: Raising Healthy Kids in a Culture of Dependence

Timstamps:

00:00 Jessica on parenting approaches.

05:56 Students seek grades, not genuine learning experiences.

07:02 How overprotective parenting hinders children's learning and resilience.

11:37 Encouraging kids to make their own college choice.

17:34 Kids mastering practical skills with teamwork.

20:30 Empowering children through independence and responsibility.

26:07 Learning mindset leads to growth and success.

27:43 Highly directive parenting affects children's self-efficacy.

30:53 Loving kids beyond performance

34:24 Standards-based assessment in education

40:54 Modeling love for learning

42:44 Setting family goals

45:15 Support kids in learning, don't seek perfection.

59:10 Jess empowers embracing failure in parenting.