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IAM2515 – Business Leader Helps Clients Build Wealth, Social and Mental Health

Wed, 02 Jul 2025 06:16:13 -0400

Chandler Walker is a visionary business leader with high emotional intelligence and a rare mix of strategic and technology, marketing, sales, and expertise, combined with a true talent for devising and applying new ideas and innovation to propel companies to build competitive advantages.

Chandler shares his entrepreneurial journey and the mission behind his two impactful ventures: Stone Age Fuel and Culture of Care.

Chandler realized the importance of customer connection and business autonomy, but also discovered he didn’t want a career rooted in hard labor.

Chandler emphasizes the importance of his “Five Pillars of Optimal Wellness”, mental health, social health, nutrition/gut health, fitness, and sleep, as a framework for true, sustainable well-being.

Website: Culture of Care

LinkedIn: Chandler Walker

Facebook: Chandler – Culture of Care

Previous Episode: https://iamceo.co/iam310-business-leader-helps-clients-build-wealth-social-and-mental-health/

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Transcription:

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

Chandler Walker Teaser 00:00

We wanted to come into this and create a whole health and wellness aspect into our business.

So it was, and eventually it morphed into the five pillars of optimal wellness, which is mental health, social health.

I would say 50% of the population is incredibly lonely, but they don't feel good enough about talking about it. The third one is nutrition or gut health and then fitness and finally sleep.

And so I found that once we were able to capitalize on these five pillars of optimal wellness with mental health being the first.

Then into social health and then into the actual nutrition, and fitness, and sleep components that we could make help people make real change, and help people not defeat themselves, and help people not quit on themselves.

Intro 00:34

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. 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 Chandler Walker of Culture of Care and Stone Age Fuel. Chandler, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Chandler Walker 01:11

Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm excited to talk to your audience, and hopefully, they have a good time and their eyes don't glaze over, and they don't fall asleep.

Gresham Harkless 01:18

If they do will be largely because of me not because of you because you're doing some awesome things.

So I wanted to read a little bit more about Chandler, so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing.

And Chandler is a visionary business leader with high emotional intelligence and a rare mix of strategic and technology, marketing, sales, and expertise combined with a true talent for devising and applying new ideas and innovation to propel companies to build competitive advantages.

Chandler, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Chandler Walker 01:46

I am. I'm excited. Let's do this.

[restrict paid=”true”]

Gresham Harkless 01:47

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.

Chandler Walker 01:54

Yeah. So my story goes way back. I remember being a kid and my dad had a business for years.

He still has the business. I think it's been around since the eighties. So it's still flourishing and running.

He would say, hey Chandler, let's get up at six o'clock in the morning and I'll get you a donut and some orange juice.

And we're going to go to a customer's house. And so we do that all the time. And the only reason I enjoyed it was because I got that donut and orange juice.

But also I got to watch him interacting with customers and watching him do his business and watch how he was selling people and talking and just moving forward.

And, I thought it was pretty neat. And as I got older, I worked for him for a few summers and I realized he was a head of contractor business.

I realized that I definitely did not want to do hard labor for a living after working with him for a few summers.

But he always told me, hey Chandler, don't open your own business. Go work for the post office, get a retirement and just don't worry about anything.

And so I did the exact opposite of what he said and opened my own business and kind of progressed into where I was today.

And it kind of started off in a route to where I went to college and I was kind of focused on business.

But I switched to biochemistry at some point and decided that maybe I would go through the med school route.

I was like, maybe I should pursue something where it's quote unquote stable. And so I got kind of through it. I was in my internship and precepting a lot.

And I realized that one of the things that I was doing in this profession at that point was providing medication to people and they didn't necessarily want to make a lifestyle change.

And so at that point, I decided that I needed to start my own thing, create my own entity where I could help people remove chronic pain.

And build the best version of who they are without using medication and without being just stuck and without having to go into pain management.

And that's how Stone Age Fuel was born, which is our original first business.

And so I just started a blog and it was what we thought from a biochemical perspective and what the industry was perpetrating.

So what was the health and wellness industry trying to sell you and what actually made sense and what was actually true.

And so we got a big following. We got people all over the world inviting us to go talk and give our, we call it our fluff to tough, healthy eating presentation.

And so we taught everybody how to turn their fluff into tough. And eventually we turned that into a brick and mortar business.

And then eventually we turned that again into an online based business. And then I realized at some point that after I came on with a consulting agency.

Once we started getting really good at Stone Age Fuel, we started helping other businesses get their strategic action plan in order, get their unique selling proposition set up.

I realized that there was one more thing that was holding people back, and it was the mental health aspect.

So people came into this already defeated, already broken, and already convincing themselves that they couldn't move forward.

And so at that point, I realized that we had to start something where we could help people get past their barriers or triggers their problems and their issues.

So they could make the decision to build the best version of who they are and to build the best version and remove chronic pain and that's when Culture of Care was born.

So we created an eight-week curriculum based on cognitive behavior therapy. So myself and I have a clinical psychologist who built it with me.

And that takes people from the point of I'm stuck, I don't know who I am, I don't know how to get past these.

I have these childhood issues that I can't get over, to now I feel good about myself, I'm comfortable with my thoughts and emotions, and I'm ready to take it to the next level.

Gresham Harkless 05:01

Nice. I absolutely love that and appreciate that, especially from the foundation of going out and getting your donut and orange juice with your dad to what you're building now.

Because a lot of times, those foundational skills, whether you know it or not, even though your dad said, go get a job at the post office, he saw you, you saw him, I should say.

And I'm sure that basically laid a foundation for what you wanted to do. And now, you're doing all these kind of awesome things to kind of help out the clients.

And do you find that, is that where, cultural care, came about where, that kind of mindset was so strong that it can kind of direct person, either left or right depending on what those foundational principles were.

Chandler Walker 05:41

Yeah, I find and growing up my mother was bipolar so I got to experience mental health from a childhood standpoint.

And so as I progressed, I didn't understand it until I got deeper into working with actual people inside the gym environment.

But it kind of came back to what I originally was with my mother. It's people can't move forward if they don't feel good enough to move forward.

And it's not as simple as saying, oh, brush it off. It's not as simple as saying, hey, you just got to think happy thoughts.

Smile. It doesn't work that way. So you have to say, OK, what's going on in your life? Why do you feel this way?

Think back to your past what's going on in your childhood I want you to write in a journal and let's start understanding what's going on and why we have these thoughts and why we're thinking.

So why we're we've defeated ourselves before we've even started and that's when the mindset piece came into play.

It wasn't we didn't want to come into this being like the standard life coach we wanted to come into this and create a whole health and wellness aspect into our business.

So it was and eventually it morphed into the five pillars of optimal wellness, which is mental health social health because right now people are unbelievably lonely and you wouldn't understand it.

And you can't people would probably wouldn't even believe it.

But I would say 50% of the population is incredibly lonely, but they don't feel good enough about talking about it.

The third one is nutrition or gut health, and then fitness and finally sleep.

And so I found that once we were able to capitalize on these five pillars of optimal wellness, with mental health being the first, then into social health.

And then into the actual nutrition and fitness and sleep components, that we could make help people make real change and help people not defeat themselves and help people not quit on themselves.

Gresham Harkless 07:11

Yeah. I love that just because a lot of times, when you're thinking about your health or your holistic health, especially you're, you're thinking that, okay, let me go to the gym.

Let me do more sit ups. Let me, not eat that donut or whatever it is, but understanding that those are five different pillars, that all play a part in your overall health, is something that I think a lot of people forget.

Chandler Walker 07:30

Yeah, exactly. And we, until maybe five years ago, it was faux pas to even talk about it.

Oh, I don't, I can't talk about the fact that I have, maybe I'm not thinking good about myself or my thoughts on where they should be, or I'm just, I just don't know where to go and I'm stuck.

And so everybody learned to just suck it up and not talk about it, but it creates a cataclysmic cascade of problems across the board over the course of your life.

If you never actually talk about it or learn to deal with or handle those feelings.

Gresham Harkless 07:55

Yeah, absolutely. So would you consider that, you might've already touched on this to be like your secret sauce, but what do you feel kind of is your unique selling proposition for your organization, even for your, your businesses?

Chandler Walker 08:04

Yeah, for our businesses, we have the five pillars and the secret sauce and the USP behind it would be, we help people remove anxiety and depression to kickstart their stalled career life.

And we help people remove chronic pain so that they can live life, be mobile and finally be free again.

So it ties back into the five pillars. It's remove the mental aspects and remove the physical aspects that are holding us back. And we can finally live optimally and happy again.

And you can be 90 years old and running next to your grandkids, not be 90 years old and being pushed in a wheelchair in front of them.

And that's what people ultimately want. They want to age well and live well and feel well.

Gresham Harkless 08:40

Yeah, absolutely. And I feel like, and correct me if I'm wrong, a lot of that goes back to your conditioning, the mindset.

As well too because a lot of times you have to understand that that is a reality that you can be 90 and do that because I think a lot of times your reality becomes whatever you see.

And if you don't see that or you haven't seen that sometimes you don't think that that's possible. But you you're saying that that is definitely possible.

Chandler Walker 09:02

Yeah, absolutely. And it's getting over the mindset. And this works with business owners as well.

Everybody's stuck, but everybody doesn't understand that typically we've already defeated ourselves.

We've already decided that we can't take that step forward. We can't progress because of something that's happened in our past that's instilled fear on us and the inability to move forward.

Gresham Harkless 09:19

Yeah, absolutely. And I definitely think there is a difference between the mindset and the mental health as you kind of touched on too. So understanding which is which is probably definitely something to know.

Chandler Walker 09:20

Exactly. You have to know when, what feelings am I experiencing? Am I stuck? Okay, is this producing anxiety? Okay, so now I need to figure out how to get over this.

Am I stuck? Do I feel down? Do I not feel good? Do I not want to get out of bed? Okay, now we might be creeping into depression.

So we can really pinpoint and understand and create an optimal pathway for getting someone to be better. And better could be removing depression. It could be removing anxiety.

It could be my mindset's kind of stuck and I need to take it to the next level. So it might be removing a simple block that someone has.

Gresham Harkless 09:59

Right, exactly, exactly. So I definitely appreciate you for putting a time and effort into helping people out with that.

And I wanted to switch gears a little bit. And I want to 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.

Chandler Walker 10:17

Yeah, my biggest one, I think that's really hit me in the last couple of years is being laser focused on one thing, not two things.

I think as CEOs, we tend to start getting focused. You see shiny things. It's shiny thing syndrome. I want to do this, this, this, this, and this, and I'm doing 17, 17 things average.

And then they start to fall apart one at a time. I think what you have to do is you have to say, okay, here's my list of things that I'm doing.

Number one through 10. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Does this fulfill me at my core?

Yes. Okay. Is this putting me in a place to where I'm financially okay?

Yes. Okay, cool. Give it a score. And then if both of those come into play and you have yeses, then you can keep doing it.

But if you say, okay, this doesn't really bring me to where I want to be. I just thought it would be something cool to pursue.

You probably should get rid of it. And so I think the idea is, Find one or two things that you're unreasonably good at and excel and push as hard as you can to be as good as possible at that.

And avoid at all costs being focused on 17 different things because we're going to be a lot better if we're focused on one simple task or two simple tasks than we are if we're focused on a million.

And one thing I do to organize this is I'll set up like a six week sprint. So this is what I'm focusing on for this six weeks exclusively.

At the end of the six weeks, I look at, okay, do I need to focus on this again?

Okay, let's keep pursuing this. Okay, or we got this down. Now let's pick up something else.

And then after the six weeks, we give ourselves about a two week break because you need a brain break.

If you don't get a brain break, you lose your creativity and ability to focus and move forward.

And so we go sort of on these eight week cycles, six weeks working, two weeks off, and it puts us in a really good place to actually organize ourself and be incredibly good at what we do moving forward.

Gresham Harkless 11:51

Yeah, absolutely. And I love that, that laser focus and even in the process that you have, because a lot of times.

And I was actually just going to ask you that, do you find that after you the six weeks, you do feel like, you know, you need a break, or you need some time off.

So I love that you built in those two weeks, because a lot of times you're so laser focused, It can be draining, it can be a lot, but once you know that you get to that kind of end, you can have those two weeks and then you can start on something new. And for people like me, I know especially, I enjoy kind of starting new things and having new projects. So having both of those built in is huge.

Chandler Walker 12:23

Yeah, I think it's, it's huge because when you look at the CEO, they're often overworked. We, we tend to get in this hustle mentality. Like you need to hustle 24/7.

If you're not, you should feel bad about yourself and find more work to do.

But in reality, when you look at the way the brain works, if we're hustling 24 seven, there's no time for it to relax and repair and grow.

And if we give it that time, then it puts us in a place to where we're incredibly more impactful in what we do.

We're going to be more focused. We're going to be more creative and we're going to have the capabilities to be the true CEO that we want and the visionary that our business needs.

Gresham Harkless 12:53

Absolutely, absolutely and taking into account rest is definitely a big part of that and sleep as you mentioned as well in your pillars.

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?

Chandler Walker 13:10

There was two things. Number one, leveraging what I'm good at and being really good at it.

Not trying to build on my strengths or my weaknesses and not trying to make myself better at what I'm not good at.

Find what you're good at because you're the CEO and you are the visionary and be incredibly good at that.

And then find people who can pick up your weaknesses and they can be good at that.

So you essentially build a team of people who are good at the things that you're not good at and you're good at the things that they're not good at.

So all of you enhance each other and build upon each other's strengths. I think

How to Use Influencer Marketing to Grow Your Business

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 09:16:40 -0400

When your favorite internet personality recommends something they genuinely love, you’re more likely to pay attention, right? That’s the power of influencer marketing where businesses partner with popular social media figures, known as influencers or creators, to promote their products in a way that feels personal and authentic.

Learning how to use influencer marketing to grow your business means tapping into these trusted voices to reach people who already care about your niche. It allows you to introduce your brand through someone your potential customers already follow and believe, building trust from the very first impression.

That’s why influencer marketing often outperforms traditional ads; it feels real, sparks engagement, and helps your business grow.

How Influencers Help Your Brand Grow

Influencer marketing offers incredible advantages, especially for small and mid-sized businesses eager to stand out in a crowded market.

It helps you move beyond outdated advertising methods and connect with highly engaged communities that already care about what you offer, driving quality leads, and increasing brand visibility, all without overspending.

Ready to take your business to the next level? Let’s explore how influencer marketing can grow your business.

Share Your Brand in a Natural Way: Influencers are good at talking about things they like in a way that feels real. Instead of sounding like an ad, they show how your product fits into their daily life. This feels more like a friend giving advice than a salesperson, and people trust it more.

Create Helpful Hashtags: Influencers are good at making or finding popular hashtags. These are like labels that help new people find your brand online, easily. This makes more people see your brand and helps you reach new customers.

Help Your Brand Show Up in Online Searches (SEO): When influencers make great content about your brand or link to your website, search engines like Google notice.With good keywords and links, this can help your brand appear higher in search results.

Grow Your Social Media Reach: One of the best things about working with influencers is that your brand can instantly reach all their followers. Influencers have built large groups of loyal fans on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube. When they show your brand, your message goes out to many new people who might not have heard of your business otherwise. This quickly makes your audience much bigger.

Give You Ideas from Their Followers: Influencers are a direct link between your brand and the people who might buy your products. Their comments, messages, and how people interact with their posts give you many ideas. Followers often share what they think, ask questions, and give honest opinions about products. This quick feedback is very helpful for understanding what your future customers really want and need.

Make Your Brand Seem More Important: When an influencer, who is seen as an expert or a trendsetter, recommends your product, it makes your brand seem more trustworthy right away. Their strong approval makes your business look more reliable and a leader in your area. This is very helpful for new businesses trying to build trust quickly.

Help People Trust and Stay Loyal to Your Brand: People follow influencers because they trust what they say. When you work with an influencer, you get to use that trust. This helps people trust your brand more, and often turns new buyers into loyal customers who stick with your products because someone they trust does.

Increase Your Chances of Going Viral: Influencers are good at making exciting content that people love to share. When their content about your brand does well, social media sites often show it to even more people, and sometimes it can spread very, very quickly. This makes it more likely for your brand’s message to go “viral,” meaning many people see it at once.

Help Protect Your Brand’s Good Name: Influencers can help by making positive content or explaining things clearly if something goes wrong protecting your brand’s image during tough times.

Make Your Brand Rich in Content: Working with influencers means you’ll always have new, good-quality content showing off your products. This includes professional content made by the influencer, and also fun content made by their followers who get excited about your brand.

Help Share What Your Brand Believes in: When influencers share your message and show how your products fit their own beliefs, they tell a wider audience what your business stands for. This attracts customers who not only like your products but also believe in your mission.

Help You Get More Sales: Use special discount codes or links that let you see exactly how many people bought something because of influencer promotion.

Finding the Perfect Influencers for Your Business

A smart process of getting the right influencers starts with knowing what you want to achieve with your marketing and then carefully looking for people to work with.

1. Define Your Campaign Goals

What do you want your influencer campaign to do?

Do you want more people to know your brand, or do you want to sell more products?

Set clear goals and know your budget. These goals will help you choose the right influencers.

2. Research for Content Fit and Authenticity

Once you know your goals, find influencers whose videos or posts match what your brand is about and who your customers are.

Look for people who talk about things related to your business and whose posts get lots of likes, comments, and shares.

It’s really important to work with influencers who actually like your brand, because their followers will trust them more if it feels real.

3. Evaluate Professional Experience and Brand Safety

Before you decide to work with someone, check their past work. See if they’ve done sponsored posts before and if those posts looked natural.

Find out if they’ve worked with other companies that sell similar things to yours. Make sure their past content doesn’t have anything that could make your brand look bad. Influencer’s values should match your brand’s values to safeguard your reputation.

4. Understand Influencer Types by Expertise

Influencers can be different based on what they are good at:

Mavens: These are experts who know a lot about a topic and love to share facts and ideas. Think of a gaming expert who explains new games really well.
Salesmen: These influencers are good at talking people into trying new products or ideas. They are often good storytellers and can help you sell things.
Connectors: These people know lots of other people and are great at spreading news by talking about it. A famous singer or a popular person in your town could be a connector.

5. Understand Influencer Types by Audience Size

You can also group influencers by how many followers they have:

Nanoinfluencers (fewer than 10,000 followers): They have smaller, very loyal groups of followers who really trust them. Great for reaching specific groups of people.
Microinfluencers (10,000 to 100,000 followers): They have a good number of followers and are often experts in their area. They have good reach and strong trust.
Macroinfluencers (100,000 to 1 million followers): They have many followers and can reach a lot of people. Good for making more people aware of your brand.
Megainfluencers (over 1 million followers): These are like celebrities. They reach a huge number of people, but they cost a lot more money.

Picking the right influencers who fit your brand and audience, and working with them well, will help you get great results. Using influencer marketing can truly change your business, helping it become more successful and connect with more people.

Want to learn more about other ways to get your brand noticed online and build trust? Check out this helpful article: The Role of Content Marketing in Driving Traffic and Building Trust

The post How to Use Influencer Marketing to Grow Your Business appeared first on .

IAM2514 – CEO Revolutionizes The Packaging Industry by Providing Reusable Shipping Packaging

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 06:16:14 -0400

Mike Newman is the CEO of Returnity Innovations, the pioneer in the elimination of single-use shipping packaging.

With over 20 years of experience at the intersection of sustainability and supply chain, Mike brings a deep understanding of how to drive real-world impact through practical, scalable innovation.

After directing the Sierras Club's political operations in 20 states, he received his MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

As Sales and Marketing Executive Vice President for ReCellular, he built e-waste programs for Verizon, AT&T, Walmart, Best Buy, and more, saving millions of used cell phones from landfills.

Mike has been featured on the Today Show, The New York Times, NPR, and many more, including the I AM CEO podcast.

He explains that true innovation means making reusable packaging just as practical and cost-effective as traditional materials, so companies and consumers can adopt it with minimal disruption.

Mike also discusses the importance of transparency, not only in company performance but in leadership style, as he balances entrepreneurship with family life.

Moreover, he shares lessons learned, especially around how early decisions around team, funding, and strategy can significantly shape the direction of a startup.

Website: Returnity Innovations

LinkedIn: Mike Newman

Previous Episode: iam309-ceo-revolutionizes-the-packaging-industry-by-providing-reusable-shipping-packaging

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Transcription:

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

Mike Newman Teaser 00:00

To get companies and consumers to think differently about how they can package and convey goods requires touching all parts of the supply chain and business functions from accounting, because now instead of an expense, which is just a cardboard box that gets recycled or thrown away.

You have an asset, which is a reasonable package, to marketing, to consumer education, to the shippers like DHL and UPS who are having to convey it. It touches everything in the supply chain.

Intro 00:29

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 00:56

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 Mike Newman of Returnity Innovations. Mike, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Mike Newman 01:05

Thank you for having me.

Gresham Harkless 01:07

No problem. Super excited to have you on. And what I want to do is just read a little bit more about Mike so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing.

And Mike Newman is the CEO of Returnity Innovations, the pioneer in the elimination of single-use shipping packaging.

Mike has worked at the intersection of supply chain and sustainability for over 20 years.

After directing the Sierras Club's political operations in 20 states, he received his MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

As Sales and Marketing Executive Vice President for ReCellular, he built e-waste programs for Verizon, AT&T, Walmart, Best Buy, and more, saving millions of used cell phones from landfills.

Through his leadership at Returnity, reusable packaging will replace the use of over 1 million cardboard boxes and poly mailer bags in 2019.

Mike has been featured on the Today Show, The New York Times, NPR, and many more, including the I AM CEO podcast. Mike, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Mike Newman 02:05

I'm excited. Yeah.

[restrict paid=”true”]

Mike Newman 02:06

Thanks. 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.

Mike Newman 02:13

So I was actually brought in two years ago by the investor group, um, for two fraternity. It had been incubated out of a reasonable shopping bag business.

And one of the companies that was buying, those reasonable shopping bags, uh, was a very early days thread up, which has since grown to be this huge, market creator and used clothing remarketing.

So, at the time, James Reinhart was buying used shopping bags for ThredUP, and he tasked the founder of that shopping bag company, Mitch, with the idea of, boy, could you make me a reusable shipping bag?

And that sort of spun Mitch down this rabbit hole of the initial ideas of how to figure out how to make functional reusable packaging that could replace polymer bags and cardboard boxes.

And after working out of tech for a little while, the investor group brought me in to leverage my experience in supply chain and sustainability and figure out how we can take this technology and actually create markets for it.

And so that's been this two-year roller coaster of learning and applying and growing.

And, it's a really exciting time I think for this technology and where markets are going to be able to have that, that knowledge and that, and that toolkit.

Gresham Harkless 03:29

Yeah, absolutely. Especially in something that's so, you know, very much needed for our environment and our economy and our world is great to hear that you guys are on the forefront working on that and definitely, making the world a overall better place.

Mike Newman 03:42

Yes. I think, whether it's the, needed and growing attention to climate change or just the explosion of e-commerce and the problems of last mile delivery.

I mean, we're kind of at the intersection of a lot of trend lines, which is exciting.

And, we're making new markets, which is always hard, but also, there's never a dull day so it's really cool to cool to see how it's developed.

Gresham Harkless 04:06

Yeah, it's funny that you said that making new markets sounds very, very exciting.

Definitely not dull But definitely I'm sure it's definitely a lot of stuff that you're juggling a lot of working through things and pioneering that, a lot of people have to do whenever they're doing something innovative.

So I appreciate you guys for that. I know you touched on it a little bit, but I wanted to hear a little bit more on what you guys are doing could you take us through like, how you're serving your clients?

And I know you probably have different people that also benefit from that.

Mike Newman 04:32

Yeah, I mean, at its most basic, what we've developed are bags and boxes to replace cardboard and poly mailers.

And that is fairly simplistic on its face. The challenge, of course, is then what does that actually mean in the real world?

And how do you get companies and consumers to adopt that evolution? And so a lot of the first things we had to do as a company was figure out just how to make a functional reusable box or bag.

But then, what I found is over the last few years is what we've had to evolve beyond into is in essence.

A services company because packaging traditionally and really, cardboard has been around for over 100 years, everyone knows how it works and what to do with it when they're done with it.

To get companies and consumers to think differently about how they can package and convey goods requires touching all parts of the supply chain and business functions from accounting.

Because now instead of a and an expense, which is just a cardboard box that gets recycled or thrown away.

You have an asset, which is a reasonable package to marketing, to consumer education, to the shippers like DHL and UPS who are having to convey it.

It touches everything in the supply chain. So what we started out was, I called it dumb packaging company.

We just made dumb boxes and dumb bags. And what we've kind of evolved into is a systems company that develops the packaging, but then also guides your enterprise through the process of integrating this new way of shipping and delivering products.

Gresham Harkless 06:03

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And, I always wonder, you know, whenever you are innovating and doing something to pioneering, like how much education and awareness probably has to play a big part of that.

So I can definitely see how you're talking about, operations technology and probably awareness is probably a tremendous part to getting people to understand the benefits of it and understand also what it is.

Mike Newman 06:27

Yes. And I think that really has been, for me, one of the most critical things is, finding ways to develop products and have them work in the marketplace as closely to cardboard and poly as possible.

Because the less that you have to train both your internal stakeholders and consumers on what this thing is and how to use it, the better off you're going to be.

So we've really done a lot to make it a seamless integration as much as possible for that reason.

Because if you really have to change behavior, any behavior change is going to create friction and challenges.

And so the less education, the less training, the less new behaviors you have to introduce, the better off you're going to be.

Gresham Harkless 06:27

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. It's funny because I've had like, sales jobs in the past.

And one of the things that I remember, like one of my managers saying is that you think your competition is all these things out there.

Sometimes your biggest competition is the status quo because a lot of people just don't want to change to anything else.

So it kind of makes sense that you would align that with what people are already doing.

So it's, an easier transition and then they're already doing the same things and then they can have all these benefits as well.

Mike Newman 07:33

Yeah, that's right. I mean, one example of that is, all the carriers have this service fee that they apply to nontraditional packaging.

And the way, like the way FedEx described to us is we have people who will put a shipping label on a tire and then just drop it off at a store.

Well, obviously that is problematic. So they had to have this special classification.

So for us to not have that be a problem, we really had to think, okay, well, how do UPS and FedEx and the Postal Service handle cardboard?

Like how does it move through their system? our boxes need to be able to work in that environment for them.

So they're not having to create new systems that handle these products, especially because that always adds cost.

So all those the minutiae is really, you know, the devil's in the details, like, that's where these things can thrive or die. And that's where we've really had to try and be smart.

Gresham Harkless 08:21

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And let me ask you this, would you consider that to be like your secret sauce? For you or your organization? Do you think that's what set you guys apart?

Mike Newman 08:31

Well, I think that, partially I think it is that, cardboard and poly has been successful because it's cheap, it's light, it's easy to use, and it's effective. It protects the goods, mostly, during shipping.

And so I think we were the first ones to understand that if you're going to change that system, you have to innovate packaging that competes on all of those criteria.

There's things out there like rigid cases that, people probably seen for shipping things to trade shows and stuff like that, that are just big and heavy and very expensive.

And they're, they're effective at protecting goods. But they miss all those other criteria that have made cardboard and poly successful.

And so I think one of our sort of differentiators has been understanding that to actually scale out a replacement to what has been a wildly effective packaging solution over time, you have to address all of those factors that have made it successful at once.

And you're gonna be better on some and not as good on others, but you have to at least compete in all of those areas.

And I think that's what we've been able to do from an innovation standpoint.

And then the second I think is coming back to what we were talking about a little bit earlier, which is that it's not just about manufacturing a box and dropping it off at your customer's doorstep and saying, thank you very much.

You have to hold their hand throughout this evolution because it touches on every part of the business and it requires them thinking differently.

And the more they have to figure that out on their own, the harder it's going to be for you.

Gresham Harkless 09:58

Yeah, no, that makes perfect sense. Just, creating your own category, you have to take all that into account and getting that awareness out, is extremely important.

But also understanding like all the different stakeholders and why they're doing X, Y, and Z takes a lot of, listening and due diligence to understand that a lot of those boxes are checked.

So that when you are creating your own category, it does, provide those benefits though.

Mike Newman 10:20

Absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 10:21

Nice. And, what I wanted to do was, switch gears a little bit and I wanted to 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.

Mike Newman 10:33

Well, so yeah, I mean, I think for me, the word that I was, the thing I always think about is transparency.

And I think that what I've learned about myself, I'm eight years into my entrepreneurial career, starting and running startups, is I think I was early on.

I always pride myself on my transparency about the business and can, and really communicating effectively to stakeholders, whether it's employees or customers or investors on what was happening with the company.

I didn't necessarily translate that into my personal life so much. So, but then I have two young kids now, I have a four and a two year old, they take up a ton of time and energy.

And that's time and energy that, frankly, I used to devote to my startups.

And so, now I'm like a nine-to-five, and then, eight to 10 or 11, but I'm like a nine-to-five employee more often during the work week.

And what I've learned about myself and then what I've been able to sort of bring to the organization is being transparent about where I'm at personally with the team.

And having sort of the confidence in myself and in my team to be able to share what's happening to me.

I think at first I tried to hide why I wasn't necessarily in the office as long or why I'd duck out early for something at a kid's school because I felt like almost it was a negative that was taking me away from the business.

Now I found that actually being more transparent about not just what's happening with the company, what's happening with me and why I'm so, why I have to be more focused when I am at my desk or in the office.

Gresham Harkless 12:07

Yeah, I think that makes perfect sense because I think sometimes when we look at, businesses and organizations, we forget that it's made up of people and people have kids, they have wives, they have sons and daughters, dogs, all these things that people have.

So a lot of times by showing and being transparent, as you said, you can, a lot of times have a type of connection because they're like, oh, I have to run to my son's soccer game or something like that too.

So they kind of understand it kind of, creates a better engagement. And 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?

Mike Newman 12:44

Yeah, I think I actually talk about this a lot now. So it's something, I think the thing I could not understand as a young entrepreneur, or first time entrepreneur.

I should say, is just how fundamental those first choices you make are on the kind of business you have as it grows.

And when you're in that early exciting days, you have an idea, you just wanna go at it.

You tend to kind of just glob onto whatever can help you, whether it's a mentor, an employee, a funder, like whatever the thing is that's gonna get you going, you tend to just wanna, great, let's get going.

The problem with that is that once you're a year two, three, four in, those earliest choices really impact what that company looks and feels like to you. Then entrepreneurs are always understaffed under resource.

Like, you have to make choices, but a classic example I think is with, it's more popular these days to raise money with convertible debt.

Because you're like delaying, decisions that, around equity and valuations and things that as an entrepreneur, if that's the type of company you're trying to create and you're raising money that way, you think, oh, that's great.

Except for now you've started this clock that is like an up and out mentality that that's the only way you're going to succeed is if in a year or two, you've grown enough to go and raise money again.

And that is putting you on a path that is almost impossible to get off of.

And you may not even understand that at day one. And so you might be a year or two in and feeling like things are going great, except they're not going so great that you can raise more money.

And now your companies might be done, even though you've created so much traction.

So those early decisions make huge impacts on later decisions. And you have to, I think, therefore have a very honest conversation with yourself when you're starting a new venture.

Gresham Harkless 14:39

That makes perfect sense. And, now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is kind of in alignment with what we just talked about, 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, as you mentioned, lifestyle entrepreneurs are the billion-dollar entrepreneurs that are looking to build that.

But I wanted to ask you specifically, Michael, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Mike Newman 14:59

I think about being a CEO as how you hand is somebody who has to handle think problems head on when things go wrong, and then facilitates a vision and accountability to make sure things go right.

Gresham Harkless 15:13

Absolutely. I think that makes perfect sense. And it's a great reminder, kind of the buck stops with you as a CEO one way or another.

So it's a great thing to kind of remember. So I truly appreciate your time.

Again, what I wanted to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, Michael, and let us know if there's anything additional you want to let

IAM2513 – Why Going Right is the Ultimate Game Changer

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 06:16:44 -0400

Gresham Harkless discusses the value of doing things differently, such as moving in the opposite direction of the crowd, to uncover unique opportunities.

Gresham shares his realization that relying solely on methods like Google Ads may not be the most effective strategy, and he aims to explore alternative approaches that align more closely with his strengths.

Additionally, Gresham highlights the significance of self-awareness, encouraging entrepreneurs to recognize and embrace their unique abilities to achieve success.

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.

All right, it's day 191 of this Franchise Broker journey. I have my lovely co-host here.

And one of the things that I wanted to really connect on was just this idea of going right when everybody's going left, going left when everybody's going right, going up when everybody's going down.

Is this idea of being contrarian? I think that there's a tremendous opportunity in this franchise broker business to do things differently.

I think what's interesting is that there's a niche within a niche and I think that I feel like the way that I've been operating for the last six months has not been the right way to do it.

I thought that I would be able to get some easy wins, low hanging fruit by doing the Google ads and just approaching it from that standpoint.

But I really believe like the opportunity lies in not necessarily doing this, but in approaching things differently.

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And I don't know exactly what that looks like. I know that what's always coming up for me is building, being that 10 year old Gresh, building that media company and be building the media business and just going from there.

But I feel like there's definitely some tremendous opportunity there. As my lovely co host moves around, I think when you try to do what everybody else is doing, you get what everybody else has.

And I know one of the things that I think a lot of people struggle with is just being able to kind of generate leads and opportunities.

So that's something that I want to look a little bit more into to see ultimately what that looks like.

So I know with that being said, today is not, a day that I have a lot really to say just other than to try to move differently, to try to operate differently, and to try to do things differently.

Because I think that there's a tremendous opportunity when you're able to move around and be open to changes, the adjustments, and things like that.

So as my lovely co-host moves around and makes things a little bit easier, a little bit more difficult, I'm just reminded that you can't do what everybody else does.

And I think when I'm looking at it, I'm looking at it not in the way that I should.

I'm not looking at it where my superpowers can lie the most. And I think that I always say, if you run your own race, you can't lose.

One of the things that kind of came up, and I believe I did a video about this, is that often, often, we'll get into this place where we truly don't realize that there's a tremendous opportunity.

And the reason that we were placed in certain situations is so that we can do and show up as ourselves, not as anybody else, just as ourselves.

And so when I look at the opportunity that's here, I just wonder, like, am I doing this correctly? Am I doing this in the way that I ultimately would do this?

And I feel like I haven't done that, and I feel like that ultimately has to change. So I'm looking forward to seeing ultimately what that looks like.

I'm looking forward to showing up more as myself, more than anything else and just taking things from there and this little guy or big guy.

I'm big guy all the time because even though he was tiny I always wanted to empower him with the right words I think it's so important to continue to kind of, as I hold my son I'm just reminded that progress sometimes takes a lot of time.

We can definitely, you know, transition out of the blue. And as I've seen him making leaps and changes, the same thing that can happen in our life and in our business.

And sometimes you have all the things set up. You have those skills and ability, but if you're not amplifying them, right, you're not using them in the right way, it doesn't really make a difference.

So a fish out of water is not going to be able to perform like a fish in water.

So it's so important that we find what our superpowers are, our secret sauces are, and lean more into those.

So I'm excited to let go of what I was doing and just, I think, embrace the creativity and opportunity because I think one of the things I really talk with a lot of brokers around when I was doing my due diligence is I wish I would experiment a lot more.

And, but I feel like if I had closed deals doing like the kind of the Google ads route, then. I probably wouldn't be where I'm at now.

So I'm looking forward to seeing what that looks like and just taking things from there. So that's it for me.

I'll continue to kind of keep on keeping on, and then we'll see how those things kind of move and adjust from there.

And as he gets ready, he probably wants something to eat. I'll continue to kind of sharpen the saw and attack the goals.

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 06:25

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.

Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and everywhere you listen to podcasts. Subscribe and leave us a five-star rating. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.

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The post IAM2513 – Why Going Right is the Ultimate Game Changer appeared first on I AM CEO Podcast.

IAM2512 – Finding Your Conversation Spark

Sun, 29 Jun 2025 06:16:55 -0400

Gresham Harkless expresses his emotional and mental fatigue as he navigates the long ramp-up period, now around day 185, without yet closing his first candidate.

He discusses the importance of timing and financing in matching candidates with business opportunities, noting that even when there's interest, external factors can delay progress.

Gresham emphasizes his belief in “moving before you're ready,” acknowledging that this mindset has propelled him forward, even without tangible results yet.

Despite challenges, including a rainy day disrupting his routine and emotional exhaustion from the process, Gresham remains hopeful and committed, recognizing that persistence and preparation will pay off once the first deal is finalized.

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 00:28