What do undefeated teams, AV carts, and prosthetic legs have in common?

They all show up in this week’s conversation with educator and coach Rob Elia—and every story points to the same truth:

🏆 Leadership isn’t about winning. It’s about trust.

In this episode, Rob joins Nick and Marnie to talk about:

🎾 Coaching through culture, not just competition

🧠 Why confidence is a performance multiplier

🛠️ How to build trust that actually sticks

📉 Why you shouldn’t rescue people too soon

👟 And the real reason some losses matter more than wins

Plus:

• How to lead when your kid isn’t the starter
• Why culture doesn’t start with hype, but with habits
• The moment one player’s return from cancer taught the entire team what leadership really means

👀 Bonus: Rob explains why his undefeated record matters way less than the way his team practiced every day to earn it.

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

📍 Find Rob Elia:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertvelia/

Check out the podcast Rob hosts: Leader’s Edge Podcast in association with the New Jersey Association of Educational Leaders

How do you go from wallflower to world-class connector?

Jason Croft didn’t just figure it out—he reverse-engineered the process.

In this episode, Jason joins Nick and Marnie to talk about leadership, networking (especially for introverts), and how to build “market gravity”—the pull that makes you the inevitable choice for the people you want to serve.

Jason is the host of Strategy + Action, a brand and storytelling strategist, and the guy who once read The Tipping Point and decided—on the spot—to become a connector. A year later? People were calling him for introductions.

In this conversation, Jason shares:

🧲 Why visibility isn’t enough—you need gravity

🎯 What most people get wrong about standing out

🛠️ How to build confidence through evidence

🎤 Why podcasting might be the best networking tool on earth

🙋‍♂️ And the one leadership rule that changed everything: Lead yourself first.

Plus:

• What to say when you're stuck at a networking event (and don’t know a soul)
• Why introverts make the best interviewers
• The truth about “accidental leaders”—and how to know if you are one

👀 Bonus: Jason reveals the bold decision that transformed his career—and how you can do the same (without faking a personality transplant).

🎧 Listen to the episode now.

📍 Find Jason Croft:

https://thejasoncroft.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncroft/

What do Sour Patch Kids, Target run-ins, and dinner-table confessions have to do with leadership?
According to Derrick Kinney—everything.

In this episode, Derrick joins Nick and Marnie to talk about raising confident, character-driven leaders (especially teens), building trust through imperfection, and why financial education is really just leadership training in disguise.

Derrick is the founder of the Good Money Framework, the creator of Simple Teen Success, and the kind of guy who listens to audiobooks at 1.75x speed and rips out the pages he’s actually going to implement. (Yes, really.)

In this conversation, Derrick shares:

🧠 Why kids don’t want lectures—they want lessons (and candy)
🧃 The magic of a Target encounter done right
🧍‍♂️ How to teach influence through confidence, not charisma
💸 Why bad money beliefs start early—and how to break them
🎯 And the rule every leader should live by: Own your mistakes. Own them fast.

Plus:

• How to teach teens to talk to adults (without hiding in the chip aisle)
• The “Highs and Lows” dinner game that turned parenting into mentorship
• Why leaders should feel worse about a mistake than their clients do

🎓 Want your teen to level up?
Check out Derrick’s course: Simple Teen Success

📍 Find Derrick Kinney:
https://www.instagram.com/derrickkinney/
https://www.simpleteensuccess.com/