Play Big Faster Podcast

Financial strategists Steve Short and Mark Schlipman reveal how to build wealth from nothing using their bestselling save first framework on this episode of Play Big Faster. Most people chase income for years but never take real financial freedom steps. Steve, a former Fortune 500 executive, and Mark, a fiduciary advisor of two decades, share beginner investing tips and money habits that build wealth. You will hear: the save first model for wealth building for beginners, how to stop living paycheck to paycheck through automated savings, the debt snowball method for how to get out of debt and save money, where to find unclaimed money in state accounts, and why treating income like a business supports financial literacy for young adults. Ideal for entrepreneurs pursuing how to achieve financial freedom on a normal salary. Watch now on YouTube for the full conversation.

Financial planning for business owners often gets pushed aside while daily operations take over, and certified financial planner William Bissett has seen this pattern for over two decades. Founder of Portus Wealth Advisors, William breaks down why business exit planning, business succession planning, and business retirement planning are not the same conversation, and why confusing them costs entrepreneurs real money. In this episode of Play Big Faster, you will hear why most owners have little saved outside their company, how economic cycles affect the timing of a business exit, what a professional valuation actually reveals about sellability, and why most owners regret selling within a year. Whether you are starting a business or nearing retirement, William shares a practical framework for turning your company into real, lasting wealth. Watch now on YouTube.

Every dollar sitting in your bank account is quietly losing value, and most people never realize why. On this episode of Play Big Faster, former $10 billion portfolio manager Paul Musson, author of Capital Offense: Why Some Benefit at Your Expense, breaks down the hidden inflation tax draining entrepreneurial wealth. Paul unpacks how does inflation affect your savings, why the real inflation rate differs from official numbers, and how does the government undercount inflation through substitution and hedonic adjustments. You will hear what happens to savings during inflation, why does printing money cause inflation, whether inflation hurts the middle class, and steps toward inflation proof wealth. Ideal for founders who want to protect what they have built while still growing. Tune in for straight talk on why your cost of living keeps going up.

Speaker booking and video marketing expert Cam Beaudoin reveals the system behind 5 to 10 paid stage invitations every month. Most entrepreneurs stay invisible to stages that could transform their business, not from a lack of expertise, but from missing a repeatable system. Cam, founder of The Frequent Speaker, has generated over 1 million views for clients including 9-figure founders and award-winning coaches through story-driven video and personal branding. He unpacks how YouTube's algorithm actually decides who sees your content, why vanity metrics won't book a single stage, why short personalized Loom videos beat cold email, the follow up system most speakers skip, and the biggest myth keeping good speakers unpaid.  Watch the full video conversation on the Play Big Faster Podcast YouTube channel.

Business exit strategy expert Paloma Goggins, a business attorney and M&A consultant, breaks down exactly how to get exit ready and maximize your valuation before selling a small business. In this episode of Play Big Faster Podcast, Paloma covers business sale preparation, the due diligence checklist buyers actually use, and why outside general counsel matters before you list your company. You'll hear: when to start preparing to sell your business, common mistakes that tank business valuation like client concentration and key person dependence, what seller financing in a business sale really looks like, and what documents you need to sell your business without slowing operations. Watch now on YouTube for the full mergers and acquisitions conversation.

Performance mindset expert Aaron Trahan reveals why a growth mindset alone can't stop businesses from stalling, and what separates scaling companies from those that collapse. After growing an organization from $200 million to over a billion dollars, then guiding a multi-billion dollar company through bankruptcy, Aaron built the Performance Mindset framework now used by founders and leadership teams. In this episode of Play Big Faster, he and host Sherrie break down five business skills behind sustainable growth: why unclear priorities trigger a chaos cycle, why communication is a founder's real key performance indicator, how to build a leadership team of complementary strengths, and daily systems for leading with clarity.

Organizational change expert Jeff Wetherhold reveals why 88% of workplace change efforts produce no lasting results, and exactly what's missing. Jeff, founder of MI for Health and former Institute for Healthcare Improvement leader, explains why companies treat change as a technical problem when it's really a communications problem. Drawing on 20-plus years in change management, motivational interviewing, and mediation, Jeff breaks down: why frameworks alone can't shift behavior, the real cost of failed change (six figures for mid-sized organizations), how to engage skeptical staff through better conversations, and why internal capability beats permanent consultant dependency. Ideal for entrepreneurs and leaders building sustainable growth systems. Listen now for strategies you can use this week.

Virtual CFO Ben Hockema explains why most law firm owners pay themselves last, and how the Profit First framework fixes it. On this episode of Play Big Faster Podcast, Ben shares the exact cashflow system he uses with attorneys who hate looking at QuickBooks and instead run their business off their bank balance. You'll hear how separating profit, owner's comp, taxes, and operating expenses into distinct accounts creates clarity, why transferable practices and eat-what-you-kill practices need different exit strategies, and which KPIs actually predict revenue instead of just reporting on it. Ben leads the virtual CFO division of Illuminate Wealth Management, helping law firm owners protect their income while their business grows. Ideal for entrepreneurs who want systems that support life, not just work.

Ethical persuasion expert Patrick Van Der Burght reveals why most business "nos" are really indecision in disguise, and how entrepreneurs can turn hesitation into a yes. In this episode of Play Big Faster, Patrick, a Cialdini Institute founding member with 25+ years training persuasion science, breaks down Daniel Kahneman's System One and System Two thinking behind why up to 95% of decisions happen on autopilot. You'll learn the seven universal principles of persuasion, how reciprocity and unity build trust, why social proof works best when testimonials mirror your audience, the authority mistake most business owners make, and a scarcity tactic that can double response rates. Watch the full conversation with Patrick Van Der Burght now on Play Big Faster.

How to find the right business idea is the question Jason VanDevere answered by walking away from a nine-figure family empire to build a million-dollar business from scratch. If you are an entrepreneur stuck choosing between passion and profit, this episode gives you a proven framework to do both. Jason, author of "Dream Driven" and founder of Goal Crazy, breaks down his Triple L Framework (Longing, Lifting, and Light) that helps you validate your business idea before spending a dime. You will get: the Dream Driven approach to choosing a business idea that fuels long-term commitment, a three-part validation process using focus groups, beta testers, and pre-sales, four powerful strategies for finding mentors who shortcut your path to launch, and how to use the "first alarm test" to know if your idea has enough fire behind it. 

PR for small business carries 3.5x more impact than paid ads yet most entrepreneurs overlook it completely. Jennifer Kaplan, founder of Evolve PR & Marketing, built a 28-person firm over 20 years by mastering earned media for small business owners ready to scale. In this episode, she breaks down the real difference between PR and marketing, how to position yourself as an industry expert, and when outsourcing PR delivers the greatest ROI. Jennifer shares her proven small business PR strategy from building media relationships and winning awards to managing brand crises and preparing for a business exit. Whether you're a founder just starting out or an established entrepreneur building brand awareness, this episode gives you a clear framework for getting press coverage, earning credibility, and growing sustainably.