In this powerful episode of Operator Mindset, Howie Zales sits down with Michael Holden, alongside co-host Jason Elliott, for a raw conversation about crisis, faith, family, health, and the cost of living out of alignment.

Michael shares his journey from 25 years in corporate finance and senior leadership to the moments that forced him to rethink what success, security, and providing for his family really mean.

From his daughter Catherine’s epilepsy diagnosis, to his own cancer diagnosis, to the transformational experience in Fiji that helped him reconnect with purpose, this conversation is honest, emotional, and deeply human.

This episode is about what happens when pain becomes purpose, when fear gives way to faith, and when true leadership starts with the courage to live in alignment.

In this episode of Operator Mindset, Howie Zales sits down with Michael Hornby, Founder and CEO of Techmentum, for a practical conversation about cybersecurity, AI, business email compromise, and the risks most business owners don’t think about until it is too late.

They discuss why cybersecurity is no longer just an IT issue, how attackers are using AI, why platforms protecting themselves does not mean your business is fully protected, and what founders need to start paying attention to now.

This is a conversation about technology, risk, leadership, and what it means to operate with clarity in a world where the threats are getting smarter.

Founders often start by doing everything themselves.

They build the product.
They manage the systems.
They handle sales, marketing, follow-up, operations, and every small detail in between.

At first, that level of involvement feels necessary. It feels responsible. It feels like progress.

But eventually, the same skills that helped you start the business can become the very thing holding it back.

In this episode of Operator Mindset, Howie Zales sits down with Johanna for a sharp conversation about founder bottlenecks, delegation, automation, AI, and the tension between building the business and leading it.

They talk about what happens when founders get pulled too deep into the weeds, why sales and marketing are often the first things they wish they could “clone” themselves for, and how AI can create more capacity when it supports human judgment instead of replacing it.

This episode is for founders, operators, and business owners who are trying to scale without becoming trapped inside the machine they built.

Because the real advantage is not doing more.

It’s knowing what only you should own, what needs to be delegated, and where technology can help create more time for the right decisions.

Operator Mindset is live on all platforms.