CBNation Feed

IAM2494 – Wealth Builder Helps Clients With Tax Planning and Preparation

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 06:16:48 -0400

Jeff Badu is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA), entrepreneur, and wealth strategist dedicated to helping individuals and businesses build and sustain generational wealth.

Jeff founded Badu Enterprises LLC, a global company that owns Badu Tax Services, a top virtual tax firm with clients across the U.S. and five countries.

Jeff specializes in tax planning, financial coaching, and real estate investment, particularly focused on revitalizing underserved communities such as Chicago’s South Side.

Jeff emphasizes automation, virtual assistants, and systems thinking to streamline operations and scale impact.

He recommends starting with a clear mission, learning from mentors early, and focusing on legacy-building through smart strategy and leadership development.

Website: Jeff Badu

LinkedIn: Jeff Badu, CPA

Previous Episode: iam302-wealth-builder-helps-clients-with-tax-planning-and-preparation

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.

I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3 is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: http://cbnation.co/iamceo3. Get the 100+ things that you can learn from 1600 business podcasts we recorded. Hear Gresh's story, learn the 16 business pillars from the podcast, find out about CBNation Architects and why you might be one and so much more. Did we mention it was FREE? Download it today!

Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Jeff Badu Teaser 00:00

So what I do is I take a person and I say, hey, no, first of all, let's start with the basics. Let's start with the taxes.

The tax is the base, that's like, hey, we'll save you money on taxes. The average American pays about 40% in taxes.

So what we do is we try to capture that 40% and then we say, okay, well let's now build a budget.

That's where our financial coaching program comes in. So once we do the taxes, we say, okay, well, let's get into other things. We sent out a survey to the client. It's a needs-based analysis survey.

Intro 00:34

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 01:01

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast, and I have a very special guest on the show today.

I have Jeff Badu of Badu Tax Services. Jeff, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Jeff Badu 01:10

Yeah, absolutely. It's definitely a pleasure to be on the show.

Gresham Harkless 01:13

Pleasure to have you on. And what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Jeff so you could hear about all the awesome things that he's doing.

And Jeff Badu is a serial entrepreneur and a wealth multiplier. He's a licensed certified public accountant and the founder of Badu Enterprises LLC, which is a multinational conglomerate that owns several key companies.

His marquee company is Badu Tax Services, LLC, which is a CPA firm that specializes in tax preparation, tax planning, and tax representation for individuals and businesses.

Another key business is Badu Investments, LLC, which is primarily a real estate investment company that acquires residential and commercial real estate properties in areas such as the South Side of Chicago in efforts to restore traditionally underserved areas. Jeff, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Jeff Badu 02:01

I certainly am.

[restrict paid=”true”]

Gresham Harkless 02:02

Awesome. Let's do it. So the first question I had was to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

Jeff Badu 02:09

So I first started a business in general when I was five years old, I was selling products, mainly it was candy.

And basically, what happened was that my family is filled with entrepreneurs. My dad is a real estate developer. My mom is, real estate also does some retail and she's also a cosmetologist specialist, aka a hairstylist.

So with that in the blood or in a family, I wanted to be in business. I wanted to be someone who was in the business field.

So I chose accounting because accounting is the backbone of business. So to take it a step further, senior year in I'm sorry, freshman year in college.

That's when I started building my business plan and budget tax services. I just wanted a tax firm.

I wanted something that I can have as a foundation, because I knew that working the whole corporate America, corporate jobs wasn't for me.

It was, it just didn't feel like it was for me. So I started a business plan freshman year in college and I kept building and building and, I was doing taxes on the side for free.

I was volunteering at tax clinics. family, friends, Hey, I'll do your taxes for free.

I'll even pay to do the taxes. That's how dedicated I was. And then fast forward in 2016, September 16, 2016, I quit my full time job.

And then I launched by new tax services, which is now a tax firm that has 1500 clients or so, across all 50 states and in five different countries.

And it was a very fast explosive company, which has led to other companies. So it's the breadwinner of the enterprise, but it's also led to other companies being started as well.

Gresham Harkless 03:56

Nice. One of the big things that, I'm happy about is I also was young and selling candy.

I'm glad we weren't in this same territory. So we didn't have any competition going on, but it's great to hear people that have those kinds of entrepreneurial kind of seeds planted early and then are able to blossom into the awesome company that you have.

So, I wanted to drill a little bit deeper and I know you touched on a little bit. Could you tell us a little bit more on how you're serving the clients you're working with and some of the things you're doing?

Gresham Harkless 04:22

Yeah, so I'm a wealth builder. And I'm somebody who allows people to see that they have limitless resources when it comes to their finance.

So what I do is I take a person and I say, hey, first of all, let's start with the basics. Let's start with the taxes.

The tax is the basic. That's like, hey, we're saving you money on taxes. The average American pays about 40% in taxes. So what we do is we try to capture that 40%.

And then we say, OK, well, let's now build a budget. That's where our financial coaching program comes in.

So once we do the taxes, we say, OK, well, let's get into other things. We send out a survey to the client.

It's a needs-based analysis survey. And they say, oh, hey, I need an introduction to so-and-so.

Sometimes we are that introduction. Literally, they know, because they get introduced to the tax firm.

So we do the taxes. And then we start doing some financial coaching, some introduction.

And overall, what we do is we take a person who, for one, was overpaying in taxes, and then we sort of restructure them financially in a way where they can leverage the resources that they have in order to grow, multiply it into massive wealth.

We're not just thinking small, hey, put in a mutual fund and let it grow.

No, that's not what we're doing. We're saying, you're building something.

Let's go out and buy two real estate properties every year, even one property a year.

And we're taking that. And we're also building that turnout into multi-generational wealth.

So we also teach the kids as well. So if the person has kids, we usually want the kids to be in a meeting as well. That way they're learning.

And so what we're doing is we take somebody, we do their taxes, and we ultimately turn that money that they save or whatever money they have, and we turn it into wealth that can build for an endless amount of generations.

Gresham Harkless 06:16

I love that. I appreciate that tremendously because a lot of times, you have kind of like those one offs where you get your taxes done.

But you're not really thinking, long-term about what exactly you are, getting those tax savings for.

But to be able to have everything kind of under one umbrella or under a couple of umbrellas that you have, that allow people to not only just, be able to take care of tax, cause literally everybody has to do their taxes, but also ways that you can empower them in order to be financially empowered for themselves, but also for, multiple generations, it sounds like.

Jefff Badu 06:48

Exactly. Absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 06:50

Nice. And would you consider that to be like your secret sauce or what you feel kind of distinguishes you and sets you or your organization apart?

Jeff Badu 06:57

Yeah, it's definitely one of the secret sauces is that we don't just do taxes. Our clients, they know us for taxes.

They know that, I'm a CPA, that we run a tax firm and we do taxes, but literally they know on the back-end, we do a lot of other things.

I mean, on my, if you go to my personal website or my bio, it reads that I'm the owner of an enterprise.

So that's a re-branding tool that we're using. But at the same time, most people just know me for taxes.

So that's definitely a secret sauce that a lot of people don't know. But what separates Body Tax Services, which is the breadwinner or the marquee company, is we have four competitive advantages.

First one is we educate our clients a lot. We do newsletters, podcasts, articles, books. I mean, we do a lot of stuff for free.

We give it out for free. We don't even charge anything for it. So we're saying, hey, get the education you need.

And the reason why we do that is because we want to educate our clients and makes their lives easier.

It makes our lives easier. So that's one thing is we, we really, that's what the firm was founded upon was education.

We've seen that a lot of these tax firms weren't doing anything with taxes. They were just, come in and do your taxes and that's it.

We'll see you next year. So we wanted to have a comprehensive overview of everything. So we do more than just the taxes. We train them or we educate them on a lot of other things, too.

Second is we're very flexible. So we have 95% of our work is done virtually. We use portals, mobile apps.

We're primarily a technology company, really. That's what we really are.

So instead of going into somebody's office, sitting there for two hours, waiting, we just don't want that for a client.

We want the client to be comfortable, send them their stuff. They can go away for a few hours, a few days.

We send them via secure portal. They get the results back. They send payment. Taxes get filed.

We send them after tax season survey. And so we're very digital, very flexible.

And we actually track many millennials. That's our target market. The third competitive advantage is that we have access to a lot of people, a lot of resources.

You need a real estate agent, an insurance agent. You need a money manager, an attorney.

Whoever you need in your overall financial network or legal network, we can always provide that for you.

Last but not least, longevity. Average age for a CPA or a tax owner or whatever you want to call it is 60 years old.

At 60, I think you're approaching retirement age. So we don't want that. For me, I'm a 26-year-old individual that's been able to build a firm.

And even, not to say knock on wood and all that stuff, but even if I was to leave this planet today, my firm would still operate and run the same way it is currently, because I've taught other people how to do the same thing.

We have about 21 independent contractors now who are taught how to run the firm basically.

So that's one of my other goals is to eventually be able to comfortable enough to where, I'm not even running a firm.

I mean, I'm still doing what I have to do, but as far as the day-to-day, I have other folks who can handle that.

So those are our four main competitive advantages or the seed resources, plus in addition to all the other things we do.

Gresham Harkless 10:22

Nice. I definitely appreciate that because it's important to kind of understand those competitive advantages because you understand what kind of makes you unique because a lot of times.

When you build a business, you don't, are thinking strategically on how to create the business or even, have that tax refund you might get back.

So it was great that you have that built within your business, but also helping to empower those clients that you're working with as well.

So, I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this might be an Apple book or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Jeff Badu 10:56

Yeah. So I'm the guy, I'm known for automation a lot. I'm the four hour work week guy.

So I use virtual assistants a lot. I use virtual folks a lot, and just, and just so people understand is I really don't want people to get confused.

They think virtual means a robot. Virtual just means that you're not sitting down with this person next to your office.

It just means that it's somebody else that's in the Philippines, India, Vegas, wherever they are.

So I have a virtual assistant who's in the Philippines right now, who's doing some work.

She's sending out surveys to all of our clients. I have a receptionist who, while I'm doing a podcast like this, they're picking up my calls right now.

And then I also have remote folks in India who prepare some of the tax returns and come back.

We review them, make sure it's all good. They're very, very good at what they do. So what I do is I utilize automation and virtual, technology a lot, just like our calendar booking system.

You just count me, for example, for all of our, if a client wants to book a meeting, they just go on a website, boom, they can book it.

We don't have anybody that oversees it. It's all automated. Automation is my, definitely one of the, CEO hack.

Gresham Harkless 12:11

Yeah, I definitely think that's a great CEO hack. And in case in point, we're doing this interview. I'm out right outside of DC. You're in Chicago.

So that's case in point. Another example of virtual and the power of it.

So now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice.

Or if you can hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Jeff Badu 12:31

I would say get a coach as early as possible. Get somebody who knows what they're doing. more than you do.

I mean, especially if you're starting out, you don't know anything. You might think, something, the technical aspects of your business, that's why you're in business, but you don't really know anything.

So for me, what I know now, like last year, I know a thousand times more than I did last year compared to this year.

So, I have a nice business coach who coaches me on a lot of strategic and tactical related, um, activities, or functions.

So now I'm becoming more strategic as opposed to the tactical day to day person. So if I was, if I was to tell anybody and I do, small business coaching, entrepreneurship coaching mentor.

But get a coach, get somebody that knows how to do something better than you do merit or model.

And then you can say, okay, well, I'm going to go out on my own. And even that's why I like franchises a lot.

I like franchise businesses a lot, actually in my firm, instead of franchising, we do what's known as licensing.

So we license the rights of our firm to other people. They can run their firm. They pay us a nice commission every month or a nice percentage.

So yeah, definitely get somebody on your side who knows what they're doing.

Gresham Harkless 13:46

Absolutely. Depending on whatever your environment is, that determines how successful you'll be.

So like you said, somebody that is better at what you do at X, Y, and Z, whatever that might be, you're able to learn from them.

And just sometimes by being around them, you just automatically step your game up and step your level up.

So I think that's a great CEO nugget. And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO.

And we're hoping to have different quote unquote CEOs on this show. So Jeff, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Jeff Badu 14:04

Yeah, a CEO is a leader who can inspire others to perform their best at all times. A CEO is somebody who can put a team together and have everything running smoothly and in the right way. A CEO is not a boss.

It's not somebody who just bosses people around. I actually hate the word boss, actually.

Gresham Harkless 14:32

Absolutely. That's the true definition and example of what a leader is. And kind of like along the mindset or along the lines of the e-myth, where you actually are empowering people to be leaders, to be able to develop themselves because you are comfortable enough to do that and you also are doing that.

I definitely agree with that definition. I appreciate you for sharing that with us. And Jeff, I truly appreciate your time.

What I wanted to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and our listeners know, and then how best they can get a hold of you.

Jeff Badu 15:05

Yeah, so I would say just a few nuggets, five steps to starting a business. First and foremost, you have to know it's something that you want to do.

It's tied to your purpose and it's tied to your passion. That's the first thing.

You don't start a business just to make money. You start a business to make an impact. It has to be something that you really want to do.

Second step is you do research on that industry. Third step is you build a business plan around that and that research.

Fourth step is you test it to a few clients or a few markets. And then last but not least, you launch a product or service to the mass market.

So that, five steps and then how best people can get in touch with me. Yeah. I mean, Email is best. I mean, you can email me.

You can also text me. I always put my phone number out there. 773-679-7198. Once again, 773-679-7198.

That's probably the easiest way to shoot me a text or call me email, jeffbadu.com is also my personal website.

Gresham Harkless 16:06

Absolutely. I would definitely, you know, echo that as well. And Jeff, I truly appreciate you again.

We'll make sure to have that information and those links in the show notes as well. And I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day. All right.

Jeff Badu 16:17

Thank you, sir.

Outro 16:18

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is no

IAM2493 – Best-selling Author Helps Executives Make Major Changes in Their Organisation

Tue, 10 Jun 2025 06:16:16 -0400

Ron Carucci is the co-founder and managing partner at Navalent, a boutique consulting firm that works with CEOs and senior executives navigating complex change. He is a best-selling author of eight books, a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review and Forbes, and a two-time TEDx speaker.

Ron highlights the harsh truths about being a CEO, describing it as a role marked by loneliness, limited actual power, and an unforgiving spotlight.

He discusses how Navalent supports leaders, especially first-time CEOs, by helping them transition effectively, develop strategy, lead transformations, and build authentic, high-performing cultures.

Ron advocates powerful leadership wisdom, including the need to live by your mission statement, accept discomfort, and embrace the responsibility that comes with leadership’s disproportionate influence.

Website: Navalent

LinkedIn: Ron Carucci

Previous Episode: iam298-best-selling-author-helps-executives-make-major-changes-in-their-organisation

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.

Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Ron Carucci Teaser 00:00

So how do you affect change and grow an organization and architect something beyond you?

And how do you scale? Most CEOs, if they enter at the smaller stage, don't know how to bring maturity back and sort of arc a story of growth.

Many of them have never led. It's astounding how many CEOs go from leading a team of eight people to suddenly leading hundreds of people because they had a too fast rise.

And so they get altitude sickness, right? They just get up there and they get too high. So we accompany CEOs on that journey.

Intro 00:32

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:59

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Ron Carucci of Navalent. Ron, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Ron Carucci 01:07

Gresh, great to be with you. Thanks for having me.

Gresham Harkless 01:09

No problem. Super excited to have you on and what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Ron so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing.

And Ron is the co-founder and managing partner of Navalent. Ron is the best-selling author of eight books and popular contributor to Harvard Business Review and Forbes.

He's a two-time TEDx speaker. Ron led a 10-year longitudinal study on executive transition to find out why more than 50 percent of leaders fail within the first 18 months of appointment and uncovering the four differentiating capabilities that sets successful leaders apart.

Those findings are highlighted in his groundbreaking Amazon number one book, Rise to Power, co-author with Eric Hansen. Ron, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Ron Carucci 01:54

Gresham, let's go.

[restrict paid=”true”]

Gresham Harkless 01:55

Let's do it. So the first question I had was to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

Ron Carucci 02:03

So, I'm like many, the accidental entrepreneur. I don't know that any, I set out to start a firm by two, two friends and I were working at a very large consulting firm in New York City and love this work, love the work of leadership and change.

But when we got acquired by a larger company, it wasn't really fun anymore. It was more like about feeding a dinosaur.

And so we thought we can still love this work, but we can do our own thing.

So we left to go do our own thing. But that, of course, that quickly meant, wow, we're going to need help.

So it meant having to hire people. And the challenge there, of course, is now you're running a firm.

So I think for the 15 years Navalent been around, I think, it's been a wrestling match of leading the work and doing the work are two different things, and you have to love both.

I know a lot about being a CEO by the ones I coach and work with and help.

And it's not a job for the faint of heart. I don't know that I would ever call myself a CEO on it because just it's a dreaded job.

I'm glad I have partners that run the firm with me. Yeah, that makes perfect sense.

And it's always great to have, like a great team around you to make sure that, you're able to be successful.

You're able to hit your goals and do all those things, but it's kind of great that you're also working with.

A lot of CEOs and you're able to have that perspective and provide insight to help them out and be part of their team as well.

It's, not a job for the faint of heart. Many people don't know what they're thinking about or what they're asking for when they say, I want to be a CEO one day.

And many people want it for the wrong reasons. And the ones that get it, there's no, I've never met a CEO who has told me, this is exactly what I thought the job was going to be or gosh, this job is really fun.

Most CEOs are surprised by how lonely the job is, surprised by how little power they actually have to affect change, by how unforgiving the job is and by how concocted they are by others and how misunderstood they are.

People just assume they get the trappings of wealth and success and notoriety and see all these perks that come with the role.

And think that's unfair and unjust and think they don't work hard and they just go to go and play golf all day.

I suppose there are CEOs that do that. But for the most part, most CEOs work super hard 24/7 it's a job that you don't get a break in.

And when you make mistakes, everything's your fault. And when things go well, you're not getting given any credit for it.

It's a very sacrificial job and a very ruthlessly unforgiving job. If I tell CEOs who are aspiring CEOs, you better want to suffer.

If you don't want to suffer, there are great things that come with being a CEO too, for sure.

But if you don't want to suffer in your job or sacrifice for your job, you shouldn't be a CEO.

Gresham Harkless 04:54

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. It kind of reminds me of, there's a quote by, who started Tesla, I completely forgot his name, I blanked on his name.

But he basically said that starting a business or starting a firm is like, chewing on broken glass and staring into the abyss.

So a lot of times it can be very difficult to make that happen. So I'm glad you definitely shine light on what that looks like.

And I know you touched a little bit upon some of the things you guys are doing to kind of help support CEOs. Could you tell us a little bit more about your services, what you guys are providing, and kind of what makes you.

Ron Carucci 05:25

Yeah. So I think, I mean, from an individual leadership point of view, CEOs and CEO transitions are a big part of our work, right?

There's very little in your career that can prepare you for that job because there's not another one of them, right? You're the only one of you in the company.

And if you've not done it before, first time CEOs can get up there and find themselves enormously disoriented.

So just helping people transition into the job and making sure they stick the landing and making sure they know how to set their agenda.

And what they should they first do in their six months and how they should they build a team around them and how do they set strategy.

Some of the very basics of CEO leadership our work we do with leaders. We also talk a lot about how you lead transformation, right?

So many CEOs are both given and also perceive themselves to have a mandate of some kind, especially if they're an entering CEO.

If they're a startup CEO and they're the founder, then the biggest challenge, of course, is how do you shed your founderism and grow something beyond you?

Because most leaders who are founders build an organization around their own identity and then they end up killing their own baby.

So how do you affect change and grow an organization and architect something beyond you?

And how do you scale? Most CEOs, if they enter at the smaller stage, don't know how to bring maturity about and sort of arc a story of growth. Many of them have never led.

It's astounding how many CEOs go from leading a team of eight people to suddenly leading hundreds of people because they had a too fast rise.

And so they get altitude sickness, right? They just get up there and they get too high. So we accompany CEOs on that journey.

Gresham Harkless 07:02

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. And you might've already touched on this.

What do you feel is kind of like your secret sauce, but what makes you guys unique?

Ron Carucci 07:10

We get the role. I mean, when it comes to executive leadership and the requirements of effect and change, we have a deep empathy and understanding for what that takes.

We're not just coaches. We're not just consultants. We're trusted advisors. Our relationship with our executives are intimate relationships that span many years.

We don't come in and fix your hair up and tell you to sit up straight and go home.

We understand that this is deeper work and it's longer work and harder work.

And so I think because we go the distance, I think what our executives tell us is what sets us apart is how much we care and how committed we are.

We bring a lot to the table in terms of content and understanding of what it means to sit at the top of an enterprise.

But what it takes to actually help a leader get better at that, and how much we care to make sure it happens, which means we don't pull any punches, right?

So I think one of the things that clients appreciate at us is that you're never gonna wonder where you stand.

You can get the unbridled truth from us, and sometimes it won't be easy to hear, but it's the truth that nobody else is gonna tell you.

Gresham Harkless 08:10

Right, and that makes perfect sense a lot of times. Like you mentioned, actually knowing the position, not just saying you know the position or hearing about the position.

You guys actually know that and know and can provide that insight. And a lot of times that's the type of advice that you need.

And sometimes when you kind of insulate yourself with yes, men or women, you always hear the things that you want to hear.

But you want to hear the right things because ultimately I think most probably CEOs, entrepreneurs and business owners want to be successful and they need people like that in order to make that happen.

Ron Carucci 08:39

And most of them don't know that, right? So they, most of them, as they go to hire people, they don't realize they're hiring in their own image.

And then they don't realize that when they, having done that, they're going to get people who just give them the answer they want to hear.

They also don't realize that when they hear some, when they hear bad news, how to respond, but they don't know how to manage their emotions.

They don't know how to get angry. They either don't filter their anger or they suppress their anger.

And I tell CEOs all the time, look, you're allowed to be angry as long as you plan on it, but you have to be very thoughtful about what your anger in your role means to an organization.

So, it's hard, and once you've set that culture in place where people don't tell you the truth, now you've created a whole organization built on deceit.

And one of the biggest challenges I get from executives all the time is I can't get good information.

I can't get good data. It's all spun, it's all sanitized, it's all filtered, and I can't make good decisions based on data that I can't rely on.

Gresham Harkless 09:48

Nice. And so you help, you guys help, organizations, I guess, figure out how they can get the actual data or the steps they need to take, I guess, in order to make sure that they are getting the actual data they need to make the decisions in order to be successful.

Ron Carucci 10:00

And how to get the leaders around them. He'll give it to them. I had to make sure the governance of the organization is based on honesty, that people are governing with shared feedback, with truth telling, with dealing with bad news and not sanitizing it.

Gresham Harkless 10:16

Yeah. And that makes sense. And it kind of makes me think of a point too, where a lot of times you have to create that culture in order to do that.

And sometimes, like you mentioned, you will hire your own self in a different way.

So sometimes you don't create that culture that makes it possible for you to have those conversations, have those hard conversations a lot of times.

But a lot of times it sounds like it starts and begins with the CEO for creating and fostering that culture.

Ron Carucci 10:44

Well, it depends on how big the company is, but certainly CEO plays a disproportionate role, right? If it's a smaller company, then it plays an enormous role.

And many, many leaders don't know or don't appreciate that their life's now on the jumbotron, right?

They, I tell newly arriving executives, whether they're at the top or in the CEO or one of the top jobs, you just assume that you have a megaphone strapped to your mouth 24/7.

Everything you say is amplified. Every action you take, has meaning attached to it, whether you mean it or not.

People will quote you as having said things you never said. You can't walk down the hall fast without people thinking, oh my gosh, something's wrong, there's an emergency, or he's gonna yell at somebody.

And you have to go to the bathroom. but people are going to make meaning out of it.

And you can't control all that. You can't try and manage all that perception, but you certainly can be aware of messages you send or signals you send or cues you're giving that might reinforce behavior you don't want.

Gresham Harkless 11:45

Right. And I always, I'm a big believer in saying control what you can control.

And a lot of times you can't control the reaction that people will have, but you can try to, as much as possible, manage, your actions and things that you do and things that you kind of showcase.

So I appreciate you for sharing that and I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack and this might be an app a book or a habit that you have but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Ron Carucci 12:12

I wish every CEO would take their mission and value statement off the wall awful off whatever swag that I have it on put it in front of their team and say let's hold this up as a report card.

Let's talk about our How are we not living this? Where in our lives, where are each of us, where in our organization are we not being true to who we said we were? And fix one thing today.

Gresham Harkless 12:38

That makes perfect sense. And I love that because a lot of times when you're a founder or you have created the business or you're leading the business, a lot of times you lose sight of the mission.

And having that in front and using it as a scorecard, as you says, keeps it all in line because a lot of times you can be playing an entirely different game when you should be playing the game that you set out to play.

And if you pay attention to the mission and the scorecard, you're able to do that a lot better.

So now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget, and this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice, or if you can hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Ron Carucci 13:10

Don't worry so much about how popular you are. Don't be afraid to disappoint people. Leadership is the ability to disappoint people at a rate they can absorb.

If you're a benevolent dictator and you want to try to be Santa Claus and get everybody to love you, and you're saying yes way too many times, you're institutionalizing mediocrity, don't be afraid to say no.

For the CEOs who are complete narcissistic, self-absorbed jerks who leave wakes up bodies behind them.

I would just say, if you aren't sure if you're that woman or guy, and there's a chance you might be get feedback, make sure you have feedback coming to you all the time.

Because if you are, if there's a revolving door, people coming in and out of your company take the hint, because your best people will quit and leave and your worst people will quit and stay.

Gresham Harkless 13:57

That's very true. It's painful and painfully true. But no, it makes sense. A lot of times,you can live in a bubble, like we kind of touched on it and say, oh, it's not me, or it's not that.

But a lot of times, like we said, being a leader, is all about creating that culture and marching to a certain drum.

And a lot of times people will follow you based off of that. So if you don't like the facts, don't like the things around you, then sometimes it's best to take a look in the mirror.

So I appreciate that. And you already touched on this, but I wanted to see if you had anything else. It's my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO.

And we're hoping to have different quote unquote CEOs on the show. So Ron, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Ron Carucci 14:34

Using your power to change a lot of lives. You have a disproportionate level of power that comes with that role. Do you know the greater good you want to serve with it? And are you serving it?

Gresham Harkless 14:45

Absolutely. No, I love that definition and that perspective. And Ron, I truly appreciate your time.

What I wanted to do was pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and our listeners know.

And then, of course, how best they can get a hold of you and get a copy of all the exceptional books you've created.

Ron Carucci 15:00

Well, I think, I would say, Gresham, first of all, thanks for having me. It's been great.

If you're a CEO out there listening to this and you're not sure how good of a CEO you are, get help.

There are plenty of people out there who are good at this work. Talk to other CEOs, join YPO, do something.

Make sure you are bettering yourself in s

IAM2492 – 166 Days into the Franchise Broker Journey

Mon, 09 Jun 2025 06:16:23 -0400

In this special episode of day 166 of the Franchise Broker journey, Gresham Harkless reflects on a moment of late-night clarity that led him to reassess his direction and strengths.

Gresham realizes that his content creation and digital marketing expertise could be the key to transforming how franchise leads are generated and converted.

He identifies a major opportunity in improving the quality and conversion of leads, noting that while he has generated around 120 leads, only about 10–20% have turned into deals, and even fewer have advanced meaningfully.

Additionally, he highlights the potential of co-brokering, collaborating with other brokers to help close deals, as a key part of the future strategy.

Blue Star Franchise: http://bluestarfranchise.com
Browse the Franchise Inventory: https://bluestarfranchise.com/franchise
Is franchising right for you? Check this out to see: http://bluestarfranchise.com/assessment
Franchise CEO (A CBNation Site – coming soon) – http://franchiseceo.co

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.

Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Intro 00:01

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:29

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast. And this is a special episode of our I AM CEO Podcast.

And this is actually going to be a snippet of a snippet, so to speak. I'm just doing an intro because I've been starting to document my journey into starting what is now called Blue Star Franchise.

We're also going to do a kind of sub site within CB Nation called Franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that.

But just wanted to give you a little bit more insight, give you a little bit more color in some of the aspects of why I'm actually doing this.

Because one of the things I was doing as I was going through training to start up this new business was realizing and hearing from the founder of FBA, the Franchise Brokers Association, that it'd be really cool to document your journey going through and building this out.

I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises.

But frankly, if you're starting anything, any type of business, I think it's really cool to kind of just even see the journey and how it's been going from there.

So I'm going to share a few of those snippets from the, from the first couple of videos that have been created.

But definitely, of course, subscribe to our YouTube, check out a lot more where I figure out exactly where we're going to post this.

So I'll have that information that's available to you. But regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing.

The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build and needs you to be your unique self.

So make sure to run your own race, because nobody can run your race like you. This is Gresh signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Day 166 of the Franchise Broker journey, and I actually had some thoughts last night. I woke up to get the baby up. or to help put the baby back to sleep.

And I was already, my mind was already racing just around what I could potentially do and how I wanted to potentially to take, this franchise program.

And I'm realizing, because I was thinking about doing this program that they have, and I'm sure they offer, I hope they offer it more than once.

[restrict paid=”true”]

If not, then I had a little bit of a backup of what I wanted to do anyways.

But assuming that this is the program that I ended up wanting to do that sometime in the future.

I asked myself, like, where do I think my biggest pain point, or not even a pain point, where's my biggest strength at?

And I think the biggest strength I have will probably be in the content creation and creating content and things like that.

So I think being able and understanding that we probably want to be more of a new age kind of lead generation team or even a portal.

I think if we were able to generate leads that were able to get over the finish line and we were able to find brokers that were really strong.

And guiding people through the journey, building rapport, doing all those things, that might end up being the best thing to do.

I think that even still, maybe having a few, deals or leads that can kind of help out, having a real thorough process to make sure that when we hand off the deals, the deals are actually going to be quality leads are actually, quality leads.

I think that might be something that we want to ultimately do, because I feel like if you're able to, I just think that there is such a gap and such an poor way that lead portals are ultimately developing leads that I think that that's the biggest gap.

But of course, we want to make sure that the leads get over the finish line.

So that's something that we can continue to refine, continue to get better at.

But the more and more and more as I go through day after day, I feel like that's where the opportunity is.

And I think the opportunity is ultimately in co-brokering. It's not necessarily just, you know, developing leads.

I think it's ultimately in being able to kind of co-broker with people.

I think that if I can continue to have a digital marketing business and continue to do and develop something out of the podcast and the blogs, it's being able to understand that.

One of the things that I'll probably do a separate video on is this idea or concept of being able to ask your clients and customers also what they need, what their pain points are.

And I think that as I have an idea, what my biggest pain point is, I wouldn't say that it's guiding people through the journey.

I think it's getting enough people through to actually get started in the journey.

I think overall I have maybe 120 or so leads that are in the system and of those 120 leads I think that there's a lot of opportunity to to get more than maybe, I think the 10%, I would say maybe 10% became deals.

So maybe 12 to 20, I think I might have 20, so a little bit higher, maybe 20% of those became deals.

Of those 20% that became deals, very few actually got further along. So what that tells me is that the quality of these ultimately isn't there.

So we have to really redefine how we're approaching this, how we're doing this, and what this ultimately looks like.

But interested and definitely excited around what this might end up being. But still, the focus is to get people over the finish line.

I was just saying that if I get 30 more leads or so and you end up getting three deals out of it that's a pretty good ratio 50 out of 30 50 out of 100 or three out of 150 is at 50.

Because you always heard the 100 150 as far as closing but then you know to see that change where it'd be that would be pretty big.

So let's just continue to kind of chop with intrigue I'm still, not sure exactly like what I want to do, like where my biggest pain point is.

I think the biggest pain point or the biggest opportunity is not even painful, but the biggest opportunity is in the leads.

And that's where I haven't done the content creation. I want to start doing that.

And I think that a lot of those things can lead to some greater deals. Can it, can it mean, does it mean like you have an old agency?

I don't know, but it's something we could definitely kind of work on and refine and see what ultimately happens from there.

Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help. And of course, looking forward to giving you more and more updates.

Outro 06:35

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.

Don't forget to schedule your complimentary digital marketing consultation at Blue16Media.com. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.

IAMCEO Podcast Transcript

Download New Tab

Speaker 1

00:01 - 00:28

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Grush values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I Am CEO Podcast.

Speaker 1

00:29 - 00:38

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast. And this is a special episode of our I am CEO podcast. And this is actually going to be a snippet of a snippet.

Speaker 1

00:38 - 01:02

So to speak, I'm just doing an intro because I've been starting to document my journey into starting what is now called Blue Star Franchise. We're also going to do a kind of subcite within CB Nation called franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that. But I just want to give you a little bit more insight, give you a little bit more color in some of the aspects of why I'm actually doing this, because one of the things I was doing as I was going through training to start up this new business

Speaker 1

01:02 - 01:23

was realizing and hearing from the founder of FBA, the Franchise Brokers Association, that it'd be really cool to document your journey. going through and building this out. I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously, for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises. But frankly, if you're starting anything, any type of business, I think it's really cool to kind of just even see the journey and how it's been going from there.

Speaker 1

01:23 - 01:37

So I'm going to share a few of those snippets from the from the first couple of videos that have been created. But definitely, of course, subscribe to our YouTube. Check out a lot more where I figure out exactly where we're going to post this. So I have that information that's available to you.

Speaker 1

01:38 - 01:51

But Regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing. The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build. It needs you to be your unique self, so make sure to run your own race, because nobody can run your race like you. This is Grace signing out.

Speaker 1

01:51 - 02:01

I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day. Day 166 of the Franchise Broker journey, and I actually had some thoughts last night. I woke up to get the baby up. or to help put the baby back to sleep.

Speaker 1

02:02 - 02:36

And I was already, my mind was already racing just around what I could potentially do and how I wanted to potentially to take, you know, this franchise program. And I'm realizing, because I was thinking about doing this program that they have, and I'm sure they offer, I hope they offer it more than once. If not, then I had a little bit of a backup of what I wanted to do anyways. But assuming that this is the, The program that I ended up wanting to do that sometime in the future, I asked myself, like, where do I think my biggest pain point, or not even a pain point, where's my biggest strength at?

Speaker 1

02:36 - 03:07

And I think the biggest strength I have will probably be in the content creation and creating content and things like that. So I think being able and understanding that we probably want to be more of a new age kind of lead generation. team or even a portal. I think if we were able to generate leads that were able to get over the finish line and we were able to find brokers that were really strong and guiding people through the journey, building rapport, doing all those things, that might end up being the best thing to

Speaker 1

03:07 - 03:39

do. I think that even still, maybe having a few, you know, deals or leads that can kind of help out, having a real thorough process to make sure that when we hand off the deals, the deals are actually going to be quality leads are actually, you know, quality leads. I think that might be something that we want to ultimately do, because I feel like if you're able to, you know, I just think that there is such a gap and such an poor way that lead portals are ultimately developing leads that I think that that's the biggest gap.

Speaker 1

03:39 - 03:55

But of course, you know, we want to make sure that the leads get over the finish line. So that's something that we can continue to refine, continue to get better at. But the more and more and more as I go through day after day, I feel like that's where the opportunity is. And I think the opportunity is ultimately in co-brokering.

Speaker 1

03:55 - 04:23

It's not necessarily just, you know, developing leads. I think it's ultimately in being able to kind of co-broker with people. I think that if I can continue to have a digital marketing business and continue to do and develop something out of the podcast and the blogs, it's being able to understand that. One of the things that I'll probably do a separate video on is this idea or concept of being able to ask your clients and customers also what they need, what their pain points are.

Speaker 1

04:24 - 05:09

And I think that as I have an idea, what my biggest pain point is, you know, I wouldn't say that it's guiding people through the journey. I think it's getting enough people through to actually get started in the journey. I think overall I have maybe 120 or so leads that are in the system and of those 120 leads I think that there's a lot of opportunity to to get you know, more than maybe, I think the 10%, I would say maybe 10% became deals. So maybe 12 to 20, I think I might have 20, so a little bit higher, maybe 20% of those became deals.

Speaker 1

05:10 - 05:35

Of those 20% that became deals, very few actually got further along. So what that tells me is that The quality of these ultimately isn't there, so we have to really redefine how we're approaching this, how we're doing this, and what this ultimately looks like. But interested and definitely excited around what this might end up being. But still, the focus is to get people over the finish line.

Speaker 1

05:35 - 06:14

I was just saying that if I get 30 more leads or so and you end up getting three deals out of it that's a pretty good ratio you know 50 out of 30 50 out of 100 or three out of 150 is at 50 because you always heard the 100 150 as far as closing but then you know to see that change where it'd be that would be pretty big so let's just continue to kind of you know chop with intrigue I'm still, you know, not sure exactly like what I want to do, like where my biggest pain point is. I think the biggest pain point or the biggest opportunity is not even painful, but the biggest opportunity is in the leads.

Speaker 1

06:14 - 06:25

And that's where I haven't done the content creation. I want to start doing that. And I think that a lot of those things can lead to some greater deals. Can it, can it mean, does it mean like you have an old agency?

Speaker 1

06:25 - 06:41

I don't know, but it's something we could definitely kind of work on and refine and see what ultimately happens from there. please let me know if there's anything I can do to help. And of course, looking forward to giving you more and more updates. Thank you for listening to the IMCEO podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media.

Speaker 1

06:42 - 07:02

Tune in next time and visit us at imceo.co. IMCEO is not just a

IAM2491 – To Sign or Not? Uncovering the Cause

Sun, 08 Jun 2025 06:16:51 -0400

Gresham Harkless reflects on day 164 of his journey as a franchise broker, centering his thoughts around a recent presentation on a sales mastery program. While the program initially caught his interest, he’s uncertain whether the $3,000 cost would effectively tackle his main challenge—consistently generating high-quality leads.

Gresham recognizes a pattern of time constraints interfering with his goals and feels torn between needing more advanced sales training versus simply increasing lead volume and improving lead quality.

Gresham leans toward exploring more targeted lead generation resources, specifically mentioning Alex Hormozi’s content, as potentially more impactful.

Furthermore, he highlights the importance of understanding client pain points to create more relevant content and strategies.

Blue Star Franchise: http://bluestarfranchise.com
Browse the Franchise Inventory: https://bluestarfranchise.com/franchise
Is franchising right for you? Check this out to see: http://bluestarfranchise.com/assessment
Franchise CEO (A CBNation Site – coming soon) – http://franchiseceo.co

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.

Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Intro 00:00

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:28