#45 – How to Build a High-Performing Team: Leadership Development, Smart Hiring & Culture-Driven Growth with Makena Finger Zannini and Jen Dillard

Struggling to find the right people—or to keep the good ones? You’re not alone. In this episode of Millions Were Made, Jessica Marx sits down with Jen Dillard and Makena Finger Zannini, Co-Founders of Brick by Brick Collective, to share their proven systems for building high-performing teams, designing performance-based compensation, and leading with clarity. Whether you're hiring your first employee or scaling a team of 50+, you’ll learn how to write effective job descriptions, create an onboarding process that drives results in the first 90 days, and implement leadership development strategies that boost retention and revenue. They also reveal their approach to incentive compensation plans, how to conduct value-aligned interviews, and what every founder needs to know before making their next hire. If you're a small business owner or CEO scaling to 7 or 8 figures, this conversation is your playbook for building a motivated team, creating an intentional culture, and leading like a visionary. Highlights: (01:00) Why most small business owners overlook leadership development (02:06) Scaling from solopreneur to 100+ team members (03:42) Hiring support without compromising profit margins (04:36) Why you must set high hiring standards early (06:44) The power of performance-based compensation plans (07:55) Stop writing job descriptions that combine 4 different roles (08:38) Corporate experience vs. small business agility (09:45) How to improve your interview process with test projects (11:45) Screening for emotional intelligence in sales roles (13:10) A proven 90-day onboarding process for employee success (16:01) Why new hires don’t magically fix your business (17:25) Leveraging feedback from fresh team members (18:39) Creative incentive plans that increase employee motivation (22:39) Building a strong company culture—remote or in-person (24:24) Handling low team morale or underperformance (25:17) How to have tough conversations without fear or guilt (29:18) Making data-driven decisions when managing people (30:44) How personal wealth creates freedom and legacy impact Connect with Jessica: Instagram: @millionsweremade | @thejessicamarx Work with Jessica: Tailored Premier Website: Millions Were Made Connect with Jen & Makena: Website https://www.brickbybrickcollective.com/ Connect with Jen and Makena on Instagram: @jendillard and @makenafz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hilarythecfp/