There’s something about builders that I can’t stop thinking about.

Not the Instagram version. Not the “look at this cool logo we made” version. I mean the kind of person who wakes up one day and says, “You know what would be fun? Let’s create something out of thin air… and then be responsible for it forever.”

That’s today’s guest — Mike Dragosavich, founder of Spotlight Media.

On paper, it’s simple. Founder. Media company. Visionary. Leader.

But that’s like saying the Olympics are just “some races and routines.” Technically accurate. Deeply incomplete.

Mike grew up on the South Side of Chicago. And you can hear it in him. There’s a competitiveness. A chip. A standard. Not in an arrogant way — in a “we’re not skipping reps” kind of way.

And this conversation isn’t about business tactics as much as it is about that internal standard.

Because what fascinated me as we talked was this: performance isn’t an accident for him. It’s a decision.

I’m fascinated by performance.

The Olympics are wild. Years of work for one moment. No hiding. No edits. Just execution.

Entrepreneurship is similar — except the moment lasts about ten years and payroll is attached to it.

As we talked about the early days of Spotlight, about risk, about pressure, about growth… what stood out wasn’t hype. It was ownership.

Ownership of mistakes.
Ownership of standards.
Ownership of effort.

There’s an edge to him — but it’s disciplined. Directed. Not chaotic.

And this is where it intersects with Time & Energy.

You can’t add more hours to your day, but you can reclaim the energy that gives those hours meaning.

Performance isn’t about cramming more into your calendar. It’s about aligning your energy with what actually matters. It’s about managing your internal state so pressure doesn’t start driving the bus.

Mike talks about competing. He talks about pushing. He talks about expecting more — from himself and from others.

But he also talks about growth. About building people. About culture. About the weight of leadership.

Because at some point, high performance stops being about you winning.

It becomes about what the people around you feel when you walk into the room.

Building a company from scratch sounds glamorous on LinkedIn. It’s less glamorous when it’s your name on the line and the decisions are real.

There’s a toughness in Mike’s story. But it’s not reckless grind-for-the-sake-of-grind energy. It’s intentional. It’s focused.

He doesn’t just work hard.
He chooses where to direct his effort.

Time is fixed.
Energy is renewable — but only when it’s aligned.

You can hear alignment in this episode. Alignment between identity and action. Between standards and execution. Between vision and discipline.

You’ll also hear evolution.

The Mike who started isn’t the Mike leading now. And that’s the other side of performance we don’t talk about enough — you don’t just scale revenue. You have to scale yourself.

As you listen, consider:

Where do his standards come from?
How does he process pressure?
What does he refuse to compromise?
And where has growth required him to change?

This isn’t just a conversation about media.

It’s about grit.
It’s about guts.
It’s about building something that didn’t exist until you decided it would.

And staying in the arena long enough to see it through.

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My conversation with Brady Opheim goes back a long way — about 20 years, give or take a few questionable decisions.

From the outside, Brady’s life looks pretty dialed in: small-town roots, a successful business, a family, and a lot of hard-earned experience. But as we talked, it became clear that even a “good” life can drift if comfort starts to replace intention.

In this episode, Brady shares what shifted for him after a serious injury and a few close calls forced him to slow down and take an honest look at how he was living. Not because things were broken — but because he realized they could be better.

We talk about alcohol not as a villain, but as a distraction. About leadership as ownership before authority. About the difference between being busy and actually moving with purpose. And about how easy it is to argue for your limitations when you’ve been telling yourself the same story for years.

Brady also opens up about a demanding leadership experience that pushed him well outside his comfort zone and reshaped how he shows up — at work, at home, and with the people who matter most.

This isn’t a dramatic reinvention story. It’s more like two guys who’ve known each other a long time having an honest conversation about what it looks like to grow up — again.

If you’ve ever felt successful but slightly off-course, this one’s worth a listen.

Keep Grinding,

NJL

Discover Leadership

Book: "Unreasonable Possibilities" - by Mike Jones

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BONUS: Recap #1 of Interview Through-Lines: Competitive Spirit

We reflect on how to channel the competitive spirit into leadership that people choose to follow. We share why hiring is the first job, how culture grows from people, not companies, and how to build environments where growth is the real scoreboard.

• reframing competition from beating others to mastering systems
• translating sports lessons to professional pressure and coaching
• difference between positional power and lasting influence
• Why hiring and selecting leaders sets the culture
• companies don’t create culture, people do
• designing environments where performance and learning grow
• values as the filter when goals and politics clash
• preview of a deeper dive on values next time

Please shoot me a note. Let me know your thoughts and what else you want to hear about. Nick at timeandenergy.co. Check out the website www.timeandenergy.co

Keep Grinding,

NJL

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What does it take to turn a junior golf mindset into a career of meaningful leadership? We sit down with Chief Legal Officer Jessica Monson to trace the winding path from Fargo fairways to the Caribou Coffee C-suite—and the life lessons gathered along the way. Jessica shares how biking to Edgewood with a bag over her shoulder, ASU golf camp, and playing with top junior boys taught her “think box vs play box,” a mental model she still applies to decisions, risk, and resilience at work.

The story doesn’t smooth out; it gets honest. We unpack recruiting pressures, the move to Santa Clara, homesickness, the transfer back to NDSU, and a London trip colliding with the 2005 bombings. Jessica opens up about choosing law over the PGA track, going in-house at Life Time, and learning to build businesses rather than win arguments. Mentors and a “glass ball” reminder—protect family, health, and spirit—reshaped how she manages energy, teams, and trade-offs. We talk grief and gratitude through “Live Like Rach,” a family mantra that turned loss into action, generosity, and daily courage.

There’s joy, too: a manifest-it hole-in-one for a Rolex she couldn’t accept, later echoed by a gift from her dad; joining Hazeltine and giving back through the U.S. Amateur and KPMG Women’s PGA; and growing women’s golf by pairing visibility with opportunity. We dive into wandering with eyes open, short meditations, walking to think, and how to bring “play box” focus into meetings, hiring, and big bets. If you’re balancing ambition with purpose—or searching for permission to try, fail, and try again—this conversation offers practical tools, heartfelt stories, and a nudge to keep swimming.

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a mindset reset, and leave a quick review to help others find these stories.

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What separates good leaders from truly exceptional ones? In my conversation with Sue Hanish-Anderson, a seasoned leader with over 15 years of experience guiding teams at Discovery Benefits and WEX, we uncovered the principles that have defined her successful leadership journey.

Sue's leadership philosophy was shaped by growing up as a middle child in a family of five daughters. Even though she was "lost in the shuffle" from time to time, it was in this environment that she developed the consensus-building skills that would later become her professional superpower. Her signature mantra, "raise the bar," borrowed from her husband's strength coaching background, has become more than just a catchphrase—it's a dual-purpose reminder to continuously improve while also supporting others when they need it most.

Perhaps most fascinating is Sue's development of "listening systems," a structured approach to gathering and acting on customer feedback that transformed service delivery. After hearing a consultant observe "an erosion in people listening to customers," Sue made it her mission to be the exception. Her methodical approach to capturing unsolicited praise has provided invaluable insights into what truly matters to customers.

The "same farm" concept Sue introduces offers an awesome visual framework for identifying communication misalignments before they become problematic. Two people might agree they're "on a farm," but one envisions green pastures with animals while another pictures a red barn with hay bales—a simple but powerful metaphor for how easily teams can think they're aligned when they're actually not.

Throughout our conversation, Sue's humanity shines through as she discusses balancing professional excellence with family life as a mother of four. Her advice to give yourself grace and recognize that the balance "looks different for everyone" offers reassurance to anyone struggling with competing priorities.

Whether you're an experienced leader, aspiring to leadership, or simply interested in becoming more effective in your interactions with others, Sue's practical wisdom offers valuable guidance for creating environments where people can truly flourish.

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The magic of Sammy's approach lies in her ability to blur the lines between professional and personal relationships. As she puts it, "There's just so much time that happened, a lot of change that happened throughout the years, and we all were in it together." This philosophy has created teams where people work hard not just for themselves but "for the person sitting next to you too"—a rare quality in today's often transactional workplace environments.

At the heart of Samantha's leadership toolkit is the Enneagram, a personality typing system she uses to promote self-awareness and better communication within her team. Unlike other personality assessments that can feel limiting, the Enneagram encourages growth and adaptability. "The goal is not to be your number," she explains, "but to understand different numbers and pivot based on who you're talking to." This framework has transformed how her team members relate to each other, creating deeper understanding and more effective collaboration.

When it comes to hiring, Samantha looks beyond technical acumen to behaviors. She seeks people who are "humble, hungry, smart" with emotional intelligence and a competitive spirit. This approach has led to an impressive track record of successful hires who've grown within the organization. The few "misses" typically involved candidates showing an "unwillingness" or "huge uncomfortableness of being uncomfortable"—a critical red flag in environments requiring adaptation.

As a mother of two balancing family and career, Samantha shares practical wisdom for prioritization: identify your "three big rocks" each day and recognize that sometimes one might be "my son's doctor appointment." Her journey reminds us that extraordinary leadership isn't about complex systems or rigid hierarchies, but about creating environments where people can thrive by being their authentic selves. When asked about her favorite part of leadership, her answer is immediate: "Working with people and helping them realize their potential."

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A wonderful hour-long conversation with former Baxter CEO Harry Kraemer transforms from a simple blog comment into a profound lesson on leadership and human connection. What began as a discussion about a controversial blog post becomes a masterclass in values-based leadership principles that can transform how we approach personal and professional relationships.

• Finding that top performers share common traits, including competitive spirit and detailed memory recall from formative experiences
• Understanding values-based leadership through four key principles: self-reflection, balance, true self-confidence, and genuine humility
• Learning the power of Harry Kraemer's 40-year daily practice of asking four transformative questions
• Discovering that leadership starts with presence rather than position

Reach out with your thoughts and feedback at nick@timeandenergy.co and visit timeandenergy.co for more insights on maximizing your most important resources.

Keep Grinding,

NJL

https://harrykraemer.org/

https://harrykraemer.org/one-acre-fund/

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Andy Doeden’s remarkable journey from professional golf to corporate leadership shows us how life's transitions shape our perspectives and priorities. With refreshing honesty, Andy reveals the mental and emotional challenges of shifting from an individual contributor role—where success meant topping sales leaderboards—to leading teams at Discovery Benefits (later acquired by WEX)

The conversation delves into leadership philosophy that prioritizes people over metrics. "Lead, love, and serve people towards their full potential," Andy shares as his mission statement, reflecting his belief that true leadership focuses on helping others reach their potential.

His approach cultivated a unique corporate culture where colleagues genuinely celebrated each other's successes rather than competing against one another—a rarity in sales environments. Particularly compelling is Andy's discussion of identity and worth beyond professional achievements. Having previously tied his identity to golf scores and later to sales numbers, he speaks powerfully about the journey to recognize that "you're more valuable than your results."

This perspective shift proved crucial during his leadership years and his recent decision to step away from his 18-year career to prioritize family and personal growth. The episode offers practical wisdom on navigating relationships in leadership positions. Andy challenges the notion that "leadership is lonely" and the false dichotomy between friendship and authority, sharing how setting healthy boundaries allowed him to maintain meaningful connections while still leading effectively.

His candid reflections on using outside perspectives—from his wife Katie, business coaches, and friends—demonstrate the importance of vulnerability in leadership. Whether you're contemplating a career transition, stepping into leadership, or seeking a healthier relationship with work and achievement,

Andy's story provides both inspiration and practical guidance. His willingness to discuss personal struggles with anxiety and the mental toll of leadership creates space for honest conversations about the human side of professional success.

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