Jens Heitland speaks with Jeff Helfgott of Boardroom Salon for Men about franchising as a lower-risk way to own a business with more support. Jeff shares the realities of small business ownership that rarely make it to social media, how he vets and guides franchise owners, how his team approaches AI and in-house technology, and why following great people has shaped every step of his career, from a childhood job in a barbershop to leading a 55-location franchise.

Highlights:

00:00 Ep.270_Podcast_Jens_Jeff Helfgott

00:02 Origin Story

06:40 Boardroom Salon & Franchising

14:17 The Vetting Process

19:11 Corporate Leaders to Franchise Owners

22:39 Leading Franchisees to Success

25:55 Mentorship & Personal Journey

31:58 Technology in Franchising

38:47 The Future of Franchising

Guest links:

Connect with Jeff Helfgott

Website: https://www.jeffhelfgott.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhelfgott

Connect with Jens:

https://www.jensheitland.com/links

Stephen Brooks returns for his fourth one-on-one conversation with Jens Heitland, now back in Europe after more than fifteen years in the United States. Together they discuss the difference in business relationships on each side of the Atlantic, Stephen's new book The £10 Business Tool Box: An Entrepreneur's Guide, and why every business should begin with a clearly defined problem. The conversation moves through AI adoption in small and large organizations, how culture is shaped at the top, and the courage it takes both to start a business and to step away from one. Stephen shares the lessons of 38 years in business with characteristic honesty and warmth.

Highlights:

00:00 Welcome back, Stephen Brooks

00:50 Leaving the US after fifteen years

01:59 Doing business in the US compared with Europe

06:55 How relationships are built in European business

07:56 Know what you know

10:08 The £10 Business Tool Box

13:28 Why working nonstop is no badge of honor

14:39 Start with the problem you are solving

17:23 Ideas without problems among students and corporate leavers

19:40 Starting from zero with AI

23:41 The fear factor holding small businesses back

25:01 AI and the human side of business

26:38 Large organizations, Copilot and cautious leadership

30:46 Culture starts at the top

34:23 Leading by example

36:43 Layoffs, courage and leaving corporate life

40:36 Social media and the myth of overnight success

43:45 Why it takes longer than you expect

45:44 Entrepreneurship is not for everybody

47:20 Stephen's next chapter in Europe

48:48 The European Perspective

Guest links:

Connect with Stephen Brooks

Website: https://stephen-brooks.co.uk/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenabrooks1/

Connect with Jens:

https://www.jensheitland.com/links

In this episode of the Human Innovation Podcast, recorded in The Hague, Jens Heitland sits down with Amit Kasliwal, founder of Dehurdle and former head of corporate sales for Ford Motor Company in India.

Highlights:

00:00 Welcome to the Netherlands

01:04 Networking Mindset Basics

02:14 Introduce Yourself Right

03:23 Energy and Presence

04:57 Teaching Kids by Example

07:31 Work Life as One

09:05 Leaving Corporate Behind

10:11 INSEAD and Self-Awareness

12:39 Resigning After TEDx

14:12 Early Founder Survival

15:47 Finding the Startup Idea

18:10 Pivots and Building Team

19:34 Hiring for Values Fit

19:53 Hiring By Trying

20:43 Going Global Intentionally

22:56 Corporate Lessons Ford

24:56 Drive To Make Impact

27:29 One Minute Product Pitch

30:33 Use Cases And Differentiation

31:55 Growth Targets And Markets

33:35 Cultural Intelligence Feature

36:24 AI Hype Versus Real Demos

38:02 Advice For New Founders

40:43 Closing Thanks And Wrap

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amitkasliwalofficial/

Website: www.dehurdle.com

Connect with Jens:

https://www.jensheitland.com/links

Julia Wagner has planned her life for decades, since she was eighteen. In this episode, she talks with Jens Heitland about building a coworking space and software company in Spain, why Europe undervalues failure, and the long-term vision that shapes her thinking about family, community, and business.

Timecode:

00:00 EP. 267_Podcast_Jens_Julia Wagner

00:03 Early Banking & Real Estate

05:30 International Career & Moving to Spain

09:25 Starting the Coworking Business

11:46 Lifestyle & Community

20:22 Two Businesses: Coworking & Software

25:42 Future Vision

31:51 Understanding Your Talent

Guest: Julia Wagner

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliawagner-salesqueen/

Website: https://rundesk.me/

Connect with Jens:

⁠https://www.jensheitland.com/links⁠

Ben Timpson spent thirteen years in the Royal Navy before building a career teaching CEOs and their teams how to communicate under pressure. He and Jens Heitland discuss what military briefing culture gets right that most businesses miss, why leaders are buried in unfiltered information, and what changes when a team learns to prepare a message before it reaches the top.

Highlights:

00:00 EP. 266_Podcast_Jens_Ben Timpson

02:53 Ben's Background & Bosnia

08:29 Preparing Leaders for High-Stakes Meetings

25:27 The Gift-Giving Empathy Story

27:54 AI's Impact on Briefing

35:10 The Briefing Course

45:01 How to Reach Ben

Guest links:

Connect with Ben Timpson:

Website: https://thebriefingcourse.com/index.html

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bentimpson/

Connect with Jens:

https://www.jensheitland.com/links

A shared apartment in Johannesburg. A career built across four continents. And a question that now shapes how organizations think about AI. Ross Rafahël sits down with Jens Heitland to talk about the difference between using AI and influencing it, why structured unlearning matters more than another degree, and what gets lost when decisions are made without clarity of intent.

Timecode:

00:00 Reunion and Setup

00:46 Brotherhood in Johannesburg

01:59 Global Moves and Career Leaps

05:36 First Steps with AI Tools

08:32 From User to AI Influencer

10:21 Market Flooded Human Gap

12:19 Relevance Jobs and Purpose

16:02 Human Decision Infrastructure

19:04 Structured Unlearning with AI

21:37 Organizations and Untapped Markets

27:33 Future You Program Explained

30:00 Governance and Decision Conditions

32:49 Benefits for Business and Society

35:05 Practical Tips and How to Engage

38:12 Closing Thanks

Guest:

Website: https://www.rossrafahel.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossrafah%C3%ABl/

Connect with Jens:

https://www.jensheitland.com/links

Tobias Tanner, founder of the co-retail platform Le Magasin, joins Jens Heitland to talk about the return of physical retail. The conversation covers his path from running a jazz label in New York to building a hospitality-driven retail model in Berlin, the pattern behind Le Magasin and its Dry Bar concept, and what makes a community durable enough to bring people back through the door.

Guest links:

Connect with Tobias Tanner

Website: https://lemagasin.store/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobiastanner/

Connect with Jens:

https://www.jensheitland.com/links

Edouard Leeuwenburg returns to Human Innovation to update Jens on life after OneFit and the AI sales tool he has built since. The conversation moves through the mechanics of driving change inside a large organization, the psychological cost of stepping out of a high-pressure CEO role, and what it takes to build an AI executive team from a text file and a set of clear boundaries. Edouard also shares his approach to learning AI without a technical background, and why he treats new tools with curiosity rather than urgency.

Guest links:

Connect with Edouard Leeuwenburg

Website: https://lionizer.io/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleeuwenburg/

Timecode:

01:04 OneFit CEO During Covid

02:54 Fixing the Business Model

04:34 Culture Customers Partners Reset

06:49 How to Drive Change

10:02 Results and Handing Over

12:56 Life After the CEO Sprint

15:15 Entrepreneurship Origins

18:04 AI Meets Sales and CRM

19:29 Freevent Demo and Benefits

23:28 Predictable Funnel and Cashflow

26:12 Building With Virtual Team

27:45 Adaptive Sales Assistant

28:38 News Driven Follow Ups

29:27 One Person Company Vision

30:56 Building an AI Org

33:44 Daily AI Triage Workflow

35:15 Freedom And Lifestyle Gains

38:17 Pilot Customer Workflow

39:33 Learning AI By Doing

41:53 Privacy And Local Models

43:54 Avoid Tool Hype

45:14 Pharmakon And Change

47:44 Simple Agents And Wrap Up