What happens when you achieve success, do everything you thought you were supposed to do, and still feel exhausted or empty?

On this episode of the Mile High Success Podcast, Nick Elder sits down with Dr. Laura Schwindt, a former practicing dentist and practice owner who experienced severe burnout after years of growth, responsibility, and constantly doing more.

Laura shares how burnout changed the direction of her life and helped her discover that sustainable performance is about more than having the right strategies and systems. It also requires learning how to manage your energy, reconnect with what matters, and build the capacity to handle the demands of leadership.

Laura spent more than 20 years practicing dentistry and built her own dental practice from the ground up. As the practice grew, she hired more people, expanded, invested in equipment, and continued learning. But doing more eventually left her spread too thin.

A conversation with one of her favorite patients helped Laura recognize that something needed to change. She began working with a life coach, an experience she describes as transformative. That journey eventually led Laura to become an embodied leadership and heroic performance coach herself.

Today, Laura helps dentists, organizations, and other high-capacity leaders move away from cognitive overdrive and toward more grounded and sustainable performance.

Nick and Laura discuss why successful people can reach their goals and still feel like something is missing. Laura explains the importance of reconnecting with your personal “North Star” instead of measuring your life only by outside definitions of success.

They also explore how small daily choices compound over time. Laura encourages leaders to think about three areas: energy, work, and love or connection. Instead of always asking what else needs to be added, she suggests asking what can be removed.

Sometimes the most powerful step forward is doing less.

Laura also shares the value of conducting an “energy audit” by asking what gave you energy today, what drained it, and what you can change tomorrow.

The conversation is a reminder that success does not have to come at the cost of your energy, relationships, or ability to enjoy the life you are building.

What happens when you spend seven years building a business without making money—and almost everyone around you thinks it may be time to quit?

On this episode of the Mile High Success Podcast, Nick Elder sits down with entrepreneur Zach Garfias to talk about the long and difficult road behind building and eventually selling his real estate software company.

Zach’s path was anything but simple. He started in real estate at a young age, moved into distressed property investing, built a demolition company, and eventually decided to take on the real estate software industry.

What followed was seven years of persistence, uncertainty, financial pressure, and sacrifice.

Zach shares what it was like to keep believing in his idea when even the people closest to him were worried. He opens up about risking his mother’s home equity to keep the company alive, living out of his car, and reaching a point where he finally walked away from the business—only to realize he wasn’t finished.

That decision changed his life.

Zach eventually sold the company and went from worrying about basic expenses to facing an entirely different challenge: figuring out what to do with money after a major financial change.

Nick and Zach also discuss why entrepreneurs need smart people around them, the value of getting advice from several trusted experts instead of just one, and why happiness should come before money.

Zach also shares what he is building next with VNTR, a new consumer packaged goods company designed around his love of adventure and the life he wants to live.

At its heart, this conversation is about much more than business. It is about persistence, belief, guilt, gratitude, money, happiness, and having the courage to keep going when the outcome is far from certain.

What does success look like after more than 50 years of writing software? For Jim McMaster, it comes down to staying curious, solving problems, and never stopping the learning process.

In this episode of the Mile High Success Podcast, Nick Elder sits down with Jim McMaster, a veteran software engineer whose career spans an incredible period of change in technology. Jim shares stories from the early days of programming, his transition from IBM 370 assembler to Java, and his experience as the fourth person on the team that eventually produced Google Drive.

Jim also gives listeners a fascinating look behind the scenes at the early thinking that helped shape Google Drive. He explains why he pushed for a familiar files-and-folders structure and how the team thought about making file sharing simple for users.

The conversation then turns to artificial intelligence and the major changes AI is bringing to software development. Jim explains that AI can write code and research solutions much faster than he can on his own. But speed comes with a tradeoff. Instead of personally solving every programming puzzle, his role is increasingly about directing AI, reviewing its work, spotting problems, and making sure the final code is right.

Jim and Nick also explore one of the biggest themes of Jim's career: continual learning. Jim talks about studying at MIT, changing direction from chemistry to computer science, building knowledge beyond his main field, and continuing to learn even after decades of experience.

For anyone building a career in technology—or simply trying to stay relevant in a changing world—Jim offers a simple lesson: read other people's work, ask for feedback, keep practicing, and never assume you are finished learning.

What if you could use your W-2 career to slowly build the freedom to leave it behind?

In this episode of the Mile High Success Podcast, Nick Elder sits down with Mark Greer to talk about the plan Mark and his wife followed for nearly 20 years.

Mark spent much of his career at Zebra, eventually serving as Director of Manufacturing Innovation. As his career grew, so did his interest in real estate.

Instead of using bonuses for new cars or expensive vacations, Mark began putting that money toward rental properties.

His first investment was an older single-family home. It was not easy. It took weeks to find the first tenant, and maintenance costs quickly became a lesson in what Mark did—and did not—want in future investments.

Rather than giving up, Mark adjusted his strategy.

He focused on newer single-family homes close to where he lived. He looked for properties that would appeal to families, including three-bedroom homes with garages in growing communities. Over time, Mark and his wife built a portfolio that reached 15 rental properties before settling on 12 as their “magic number.”

But building the portfolio was only part of the plan.

Mark had to balance two careers at once: his W-2 career and his growing real estate business. He shares how losing focus at work almost put his larger plan at risk and why staying disciplined became so important.

He also explains why he chose not to keep buying properties simply because he could. Mark knew what he wanted his investments to accomplish. Adding more debt and more properties could have pushed his retirement further away.

Today, Mark is in a new phase of his journey.

He and his wife are selling their remaining rental properties and moving toward more passive real estate investments. For Mark, the goal is no longer to own more. It is to gain back something even more valuable: time.

This conversation is about much more than rental properties. It is about knowing where you want to go, building a plan to get there, and having the discipline to stay with it for the long run.

To connect with Mark, reach out to Nick Elder, who can make an introduction for those with a genuine interest in connecting with him.

Listen to the Mile High Success Podcast with Nick Elder on Apple Podcasts and follow the show for more conversations about success, investing, business, and creating greater freedom in life.

On this episode of the Mile High Success Podcast with Nick Elder, Nick sits down with Craig Feldmeier of Money Ripples to talk about building wealth, creating cash flow, and working toward your own “work optional” number.

Craig started his career on Wall Street, where he worked in private wealth management and helped high-net-worth clients preserve and manage their wealth. Today, he works as an investment coach, helping people build personal financial roadmaps based on their goals, income, assets, expenses, and lifestyle.

Craig explains why there is no one-size-fits-all plan for financial freedom. Some investors want growth. Others need cash flow. Some want to reduce taxes or prepare for an early retirement. The right strategy starts with knowing where you are today and where you want to go.

Nick and Craig also talk about one of the most important rules of investing: understand where your money is going. Craig explains why investors should know how an investment makes money, what could go wrong, how their principal gets returned, and who is operating the investment.

They also discuss risk, passive income, real estate, due diligence, career choices, and why earning and saving more money can have a major impact on how quickly someone reaches financial freedom.

Craig also shares his own career journey from Wall Street to a path that better fits his talents and lifestyle. His message goes beyond money: find what you are good at, build a life that fits you, and use money as a tool to create more choices.

What does it really take to build a business from scratch, grow it through unexpected challenges, and eventually walk away with the freedom to choose what comes next?

On this episode of the Mile High Success Podcast, Nick Elder sits down with Denver entrepreneur Darren Crotchett to talk about his journey from starting a concrete lifting company in 2012 to eventually selling the business.

Darren's story started with curiosity. After discovering polyurethane concrete lifting, he traveled across the country to learn more about the process. He returned to Colorado, built his own equipment, and began practicing on the driveways, patios, and porches of friends and family. He admits he broke plenty of things along the way, but every mistake taught him something.

Soon, those early experiments became a real company.

Darren shares how finding a business partner with complementary skills helped take the company to another level. While Darren focused on operations, services, and getting the work done, his partner focused on areas such as marketing, sales, and finance.

They grew steadily for years before COVID changed everything. Revenue grew rapidly, but Darren explains why more revenue did not automatically mean more profit. Fast growth brought hiring problems, higher overhead, mistakes, and new operational challenges.

One of Darren's biggest lessons is simple: invest in great people. He explains why he would rather pay one outstanding employee well than hire several lower-paid employees who may not stay. For Darren, great employees aren't simply an expense. They are one of a company's most important investments.

Darren also discusses how implementing the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) helped bring greater accountability, organization, and clarity to the growing company.

After selling the business, Darren faced a new question: What do you do with the money you've spent years building?

He shares his personal approach to real estate, diversification, liquidity, passive income, and protecting capital for the future. Darren and Nick also discuss why transparency and communication matter when choosing the people who will help manage and invest your money.

Today, Darren has moved into a very different chapter. Instead of spending every day running a company, he's pursuing a lifelong interest in aviation — including building his own airplanes.

This conversation is about much more than concrete. It's about entrepreneurship, people, rapid growth, investing, life after selling a business, and creating the freedom to pursue what matters to you.

To connect with Darren, listeners can reach out to Nick Elder for an introduction.

Listen to the Mile High Success Podcast with Nick Elder on Apple Podcasts, and watch the full interview on YouTube.

Success. Influence. Connection.

Welcome to the Mile High Success Podcast, hosted by Nick Elder.

Each episode features engaging conversations with Denver's leading entrepreneurs, business owners, executives, and professionals who are making an impact in their industries and communities.

Discover the stories behind their success, the leadership lessons they've learned, the challenges they've overcome, and the strategies they use to grow their businesses, build influence, and create lasting relationships.

Whether you're an entrepreneur, executive, business professional, or someone passionate about personal and professional growth, you'll walk away from every episode with practical insights, fresh ideas, and real-world advice you can apply immediately.

From leadership and business strategy to innovation, networking, and community impact, the Mile High Success Podcast shines a spotlight on the people helping shape Denver's thriving business community.

New episodes released regularly.