In this episode of The Dark Arts of Team Optimization, hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo are joined by Brian Berling, Chief Operating Officer at StickerJunkie. Brian brings nearly two decades of leadership experience and shares how empathy, purpose, and trust can transform teams and help businesses thrive. From his early leadership experiences to his current role, Brian explores why protecting your people is the key to long-term success and why traditional, fear-driven leadership is becoming obsolete.

What You'll Learn:

- The importance of leading with empathy and protecting your team

- How leadership styles evolve from authoritarian to collaborative

- Why aligning your team’s values with the company’s core purpose leads to better performance

- The value of hiring people who align with your mission, and how to screen for this in interviews

- Tips for creating a healthy, stress-free work environment that fosters long-term success

Timestamps:

[00:00] – Teaser

[01:24] – Introduction to Brian Birling

[02:22] – Leadership and Mentorship

[09:30] – The Importance of Leading from the Middle

[15:58] – Protecting Your Team

[26:01] – Long-Term Success vs. Short-Term Gains

[21:07] – Intrinsic Motivation and Aligning Team Values

[26:40] – Hiring for Cultural and Psychological Fit

[32:20] – How to Filter for Alignment During Interviews

[33:17] – Wrap-Up and Final Thoughts

📱 Follow our guest Brian Berling:

👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianberling

👉 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brianberling/

👉 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brianberling/

👉 Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stickerjunkie

👉Company Website: https://www.stickerjunkie.com/

👉Company Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/StickerJunkie-100079877670675/

👉Company Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stickerjunkie/?hl=en

📱 Follow the Hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo:

👉 Kyle’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyleclaytonjohnson/

👉 Franz’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franz-aliquo/

📱 Follow Holonic:

👉 Website: https://www.becomeholonic.com/

👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/becomeholonic/

In this episode of The Dark Arts of Team Optimization, hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo interviews Margot Schmorak, Co-Founder and CEO of Hostfully & Co-Founder of VC Backed Moms, about the importance of creating a people-first culture in business. Margot shares her journey of leading a startup for over a decade, focusing on team happiness, effective leadership, and balancing growth with well-being. If you're a leader or founder interested in building a supportive, high-performance team, this episode is packed with valuable insights.

What You'll Learn:

- The power of a people-first culture and how it contributes to long-term success

- Strategies for onboarding and building strong employee relationships from day one

- How to create an environment that supports work-life balance without guilt

- The challenges and rewards of fundraising while maintaining company values

- Tips for navigating difficult leadership decisions and managing team dynamics

Timestamps:

[00:00] – Introduction of Margot Schmorak

[03:20] – Building a People-First Culture

[06:57] – Prioritizing Transparency and Work-Life Balance

[11:56] – Onboarding and Employee Satisfaction

[20:07] – Caretaking and Employee Wellbeing

[30:01] – Navigating Investor Expectations

[26:52] – Maintaining Culture During Growth

[30:24] – The Importance of Open Communication

[32:27] – Conclusion

📱 Follow our Guest Margot Schmorak & her Companies:

👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mschmorak

👉Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/schmorak_/?hl=en

👉Email address: margot@hostfully.com

👉Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vcbackedmoms, https://www.linkedin.com/company/hostfully-inc-/

👉Company Websites: https://www.hostfully.com/ https://www.vcbackedmoms.com/

👉Company Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hostfully/

📱 Follow the Hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo:

👉 Kyle’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyleclaytonjohnson/

👉 Franz’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franz-aliquo/

📱 Follow Holonic:

👉 Website: https://www.becomeholonic.com/

👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/becomeholonic/

In this episode of The Dark Arts of Team Optimization, hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo interview serial entrepreneur Andrea Lake, who has been building companies since the early days of the internet, including 14 businesses such as Sticker Junkie and Power Chick Mafia. Andrea shares candid lessons on the pitfalls of absentee ownership, the journey of rebuilding a troubled company, and the profound importance of creating a tight-knit, highly transparent, and well-compensated team.

🔑 Key Topics:

1. The Winston House Phenomenon: How a Venice Beach tech hub, started with friends pooling rent money, accidentally became a cultural and musical center for artists and entrepreneurs.
2. The Cost of Absentee Ownership: Andrea recounts her seven-year retirement from Sticker Junkie, revealing the subsequent issues of a failing team, mismanagement, and embezzlement that forced her to step back in.
3. The New Team Ethos: Her philosophy of treating the team like an Olympic-level sports team with high-level structure, clarity, and investment.
4. Compensation and Transparency: Why the CEO should never make more than seven times the lowest-paid team member, and the importance of full financial transparency with all employees.
5. Hiring Philosophy: The need for a three-month trial period and an absolute intolerance for backchanneling or "shitty attitudes," regardless of an individual's sales performance.

Episode Highlights and Timestamps:

[00:00:00] - Trailer and Introduction of Andrea Lake

[00:03:04] - The origin story of the Winston House in Venice Beach as a tech hub and community project.

[00:05:50] - Andrea's technique for curating the "right people" for a community using her Sedona Magic event litmus test.

[00:08:06] - Distinguishing between the early, low-team version of Sticker Junkie/Delinquent and the new team structure.

[00:11:40] - Kyle and Franz ask Andrea to detail the hard lessons learned from the non-functioning team during her retirement.

[00:14:55] - Why it is "profoundly important" for the founder to be "in the weeds" with the team.

[00:19:00] - The strategy behind the 500% annual revenue increase and setting a living wage floor of $32/hour.

[00:20:48] - The core rule: Work is not therapy, and letting people go immediately if they create problems.

[00:26:12] - The dangers of owners who lead through intimidation and fear.

[00:31:20] - Building a work environment where people feel happy, respected, and laugh, which leads to them working harder.

[00:35:06] - An example of a $38,000 mistake where the employee was not chewed out, but the process was fixed.

[00:38:27] - Andrea's most controversial belief: The absolute necessity of keeping team players on the team and immediately firing those with a "shitty...