Transforming Leaders at Baker Road with Joe DeLoss

Whether you’re a leader feeling isolated, someone longing for deeper community, or just looking for a fresh perspective on personal growth, this episode is all about finding meaning, creating space for change, and, as Joe DeLoss puts it, “hiking to the beginning” again and again.Welcome to the Spirit of EQ podcast! I’m Eric Pennington, your host, and in this episode, I’m joined by Joe DeLoss—an entrepreneur many of you might know from Hot Chicken Takeover, but today he’s here to share something entirely new and deeply personal: Baker Road.As Joe DeLoss and I talk, you’ll hear how he’s moved beyond just building businesses to cultivating a mission-driven community space that reconnects people with themselves and with nature.Baker Road isn’t about productivity for its own sake, but about creating restorative spaces where individuals and teams can find clarity, stillness, and genuine connection—something we all need in our fast-paced, achievement-focused world.In this conversation, Joe DeLoss opens up about what drew him to this work—a journey that started with a rite of passage experience for a friend’s son and grew into a vision for transformative retreats.We also explore why so many of us feel nature is out of reach, how slowing down can spark huge personal breakthroughs, and why cultivating safe, authentic spaces—especially for men—matters so much right now.Join us for a thoughtful, honest dialogue about what it takes to get back to ourselves and each other.Joe DeLoss is a serial entrepreneur and servant leader focused on building transformational experiences and businesses for the betterment of everyone involved.He’s best known for a Midwest restaurant chain he built and exited called Hot Chicken Takeover. The business gave Joe the privilege of leading nearly 1,000 people impacted by adversity, ranging from incarceration to addiction to bouts of homelessness.HCT earned critical acclaim as a break-out brand in the industry and garnered national attention, enabling Joe to encourage and coach countless other entrepreneurs and leaders towards impact. He continues this legacy of HR innovation through a fractional culture practice he co-founded called HRT Systems.Currently, Joe’s pulling a new thread of personal and professional development by launching Baker Road, a retreat center andguide-service based in rural Ohio. Baker Road offers venues and experiences for individuals, teams, and leaders to truly retreat, allowing them to re-enter life and business from refreshed vantage points. From backcountry experiences to boardrooms, Joe is demonstrating the transformational power of hospitality, wildness, and grounded support.Joe’s work been highlighted by The Today Show, Forbes, Harvard Business School, Politico, The Rachael Ray Show and manyothers. He lives adventurously and abundantly on a farm in Knox County, Ohio with his wife and two wild daughters. When not serving as a “dirtbag concierge” to Baker Road guests, he spends time training for endurance races, advising entrepreneurs, and dreaming up new adventures.Moments00:00 "Crafting Transformative Experiences"07:56 "Noticing the Overlooked"12:03 "Nature, Rest, and Clarity"16:34 Facing Fear Brings Clarity22:28 "Designing Transformative Retreat Experiences"26:39 "Finding Growth Through Letting Go"34:59 "Redefining Masculinity Through Vulnerability"38:21 "Presence and Overcoming Small Burdens"45:29 "Fostering Growth Without Destination"49:34 "Unspoken Truths in Relationships"58:18 "Guides, Not Gurus"01:02:30 "Guide, Not Guru: Your Path"01:04:47 "Gratitude and Future Talks"3 key takeaways you can apply to your life and leadership:Nature is a Tonic: As Joe shares, time in nature isn’t just restorative—it can offer clarity and valuable perspective that we rarely find in our busy, achievement-driven lives.False Summits Are Real: Just like hiking a mountain, our professional and personal lives are filled with “false summits”—those moments we think we’ve “arrived,” only to realize there’s more journey ahead. Embracing that can keep us humble and open to growth.Leaders Need Safe Spaces, Too: Even (and especially) high-impact leaders need places where they can be seen and supported as humans—not just by their titles and achievements.In each episode, Jeff and Eric will talk about what emotional intelligence, or understanding your emotions, can do for you in your daily and work life. For more information, contact Eric or Jeff at [email protected] or visit their website, Spirit of EQ.You can follow The Spirit of EQ Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Android, or on your favorite podcast player.New episodes are available on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays every month!Please review our podcast Music from Uppbeathttps://uppbeat.io/t/roo-walker/deeperLicense code: PEYKDJHQNGSZXDUEhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/We hope you enjoy the podcast. Hopefully, you're tuning in on a regular basis. We'd love it if you would give us a great review on whatever platform you're listening to the podcast. It's so appreciative and helps us as we try to get more exposure for the work we do and the episodes that we publish. We're grateful to you as a listener. Secondly, our content is for educational purposes only. It's not intended by any stretch to diagnose or treat anything that may be occurring in your life or anyone else's life that you may be connected to through the podcast. And as always, we look forward to the next time that we're together. Take care.Spirit of EQMentioned in this episode:Thanks for listening to Spirit of EQThis podcast was created to be a tool to primarily help you to discover and grow your EQ. Science and our own lived experiences confirm that the better we are at managing our emotions, the better we're going to be at making decisions. Which leads to a better life. And that's something we all want. We're glad that you've taken the time today to listen. We hope that something you hear will lead to a breakthrough. We'd really appreciate a review on your podcast platform. Please leave some comments about what you heard today, as well as follow and subscribe to the podcast. That way, you won't miss a single episode as we continue this journey.SEQ Development ReportThe SEQ Development Report is an innovative tool that combines emotional intelligence with one's spiritual life, distinct from religious contexts. The report helps individuals understand their connections with themselves, others, and their surroundings. It aims to identify areas in their lives that may need improvement and highlight their strengths, ultimately facilitating better navigation through life. To obtain the report, individuals need to contact Spirit of EQ via email at [email protected] and complete an online assessment that takes about 15 to 20 minutes. After the assessment, a debrief session is required to review the comprehensive information provided in the report. Spirit of EQ also offers further coaching to support individuals in their personal development journey.