My 1 year Anniversary

Happy 1-year anniversary of "Growing your business with People!" Our podcast is all about helping business leaders grow their business with their biggest and most important investment - People. It's been quite a journey, transitioning from my corporate career to hosting this show. And let me tell you, it's been quite a ride!

A year ago, we kicked off this adventure with our very first episode featuring my good friend and colleague, David Casey. At the time, I was a newbie to the world of podcasting. Sure, I'd done plenty of radio, TV, and newspaper interviews, but podcasts were a different ballgame for me. I must admit, I'm not the biggest consumer of podcasts myself. It's a bit like sports for me - I'd rather play than watch! But I discovered my passion lay in listening, learning, and engaging with my guests, and then turning that into valuable and enjoyable content for all of you.

I knew I had a steep learning curve ahead of me. I had to dive in with confidence, boldness, and faith. There was so much to learn - from equipment and lighting to virtual studios, editing software, and marketing. Heck, I didn't even have a brand logo when I started! I was definitely unprepared, but I had big dreams. I envisioned a podcast that could truly make a difference, one that could help leaders learn the tough lessons of leadership that my guests and I had gathered over a lifetime. I dreamt of reaching over 100,000 leaders every week, a goal we're still striving for today.

I wanted our show to be like an "MBA in People" for up-and-coming leaders (that was one of my early taglines). Eventually, we settled on our current tagline - a podcast dedicated to leaders who want to grow their business with their biggest and most important investment…People. Even crafting that tagline was a challenge, taking months of fine-tuning to find the right combination of words that had depth, meaning, and simplicity. You see, even the simplest things in a small business can be quite the puzzle.

Now, OUR show boasts over 50,000 video views, more than 1,200 subscribers, and a fantastic community of 1,029 loyal followers and listeners. We've managed to produce a whopping 50 episodes in just one year! I owe a huge thank you to my incredible team - Madisen Stubbs (Producer and Editor) and Aileen Cristobal (Social Media Manager) - who have been patient, helpful, and absolutely critical to the show's success. Shoutout to my son Jeffrey for inspiring and pushing me to embark on this journey, and to my wife Mindy and my children Aubrey, Vinnie, and Emmett for their unwavering support.

I'm grateful to our sponsors who believed in me and the podcast, helping us navigate that all-important learning curve during year one (big thanks to Paradox, Seven Step, Bayard Advertising, Survale, and FutureSolve). Last but not least, I'm thankful for all our incredible guests, from CEOs and Presidents of Fortune 100 companies to thought leaders, tech founders, best-selling authors, TEDx Speakers, the former head of recruiting for the CIA, and yes, even a few Cardiologists (pun alert: because great leaders have to have good hearts)!

My chat with David felt so natural and effortless that it gave me more confidence than I probably deserved. I want to extend my heartfelt appreciation to David and all my guests who generously shared their time, experience, and wisdom, all so that business leaders like you can learn how to grow your business with your most vital investment - People!

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Thank you for joining us on this incredible journey.

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Jeff

Madisen Stubbs Aileen De Hitta - Cristobal Jeff Lackey II Aubrey DeLong David L. Casey Vincent Lackey Emmett Lackey