Do The Right Thing Even When No One Is Watching

Integrity and ethical business practices aren’t “nice to have,” they’re a competitive advantage. In this episode of An Ounce of Prevention, host Rachel Reese sits down with Ella McDonald, founder of McDonald Land Services, to unpack the Cornerstones of Success: honesty, integrity, and ethical behavior, and what they look like in day-to-day decision-making.Ella shares how growing up on a dairy farm taught her accountability early, how she pushed into land work in 1978 when she was told there were no women in the field, and the leadership standards she set as her company expanded into major U.S. basins serving oil, gas, renewables, and emerging energy sectors.If you’re a founder, executive, manager, or service provider building a reputation-based business, this conversation is a practical reminder: you have to choose ethics every day, and your organization has to live it, not just say it.Time Stamps / Chapters00:00:01:04 Welcome to An Ounce of Prevention00:00:25:17 Host intro + guest introduction (Ella McDonald)00:01:31:06 The “cornerstones of success”: integrity, honesty, ethics00:03:28:04 Starting in land work in 1978—“when pigs could fly”00:05:15:21 Learning accuracy, then pushing into the field00:06:18:01 Advocating for equal pay: from $35/day to $75/day00:06:49:12 Why she started her own brokerage firm00:08:48:06 The unethical kickback request—and walking away00:12:32:23 How standards scale across a team and operations00:14:11:21 Fair invoicing + defending work to clients00:15:21:19 Growth across basins: Marcellus/Appalachia, Rockies, nationwide00:18:24:18 Building a family legacy + team leaders carrying it forward00:21:42:01 Lifetime achievement award + message to women leaders