Author archives for Erica Shaw
Blog
Ep. 111: Exit Your Business Smarter, a Conversation with Chad Williams
We talk with business law attorney Chad Williams about what really drives founders to sell and how to prepare before the first serious offer shows up. We dig into why the headline price can be misleading, how to protect your leverage, and what planning looks like after the wire hits. reasons founders exit, from succession gaps to market pressure and burnout why taking chips off the table can restore confidence and reduce risk building a company to sell, and starting exit planning earlier than feels necessary the uneven playing field between experienced buyers and first-time sellers what an LOI really...read the full article
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Ep. 110: CPA Attorney Bruce Willey Asks, What If Your Tax Return Is Costing You Wealth
Your tax return can feel like a verdict, but it doesn’t have to be. I sit down with Bruce Willey, a rare combo of CPA and attorney, to talk about what most high-earning business owners never get from “normal” tax prep: an actual tax plan. We start with Bruce’s Tactical Games journey, where accuracy matters even when your heart rate is spiking, and how rebuilding his health after a 2018 stroke sharpened his focus on recovery, discipline, and long-term performance. Then we get into the money. Bruce lays out the difference between tax compliance and tax strategy, why many CPAs...read the full article
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Ep. 109: How Self-Love Builds True Wealth and Well-Being with Dr. Margaret Paul
What if the richest life begins when you finally listen to your feelings? We sit down with Dr. Margaret Paul—best-selling author and co-creator of Inner Bonding—to rethink wealth as well-being and put love at the center of a life that feels good. Forget the myth that a bigger balance sheet guarantees joy. Dr. Paul has coached people with yachts, acclaim, and approval who still felt empty. Her insight is simple: happiness flows from how you treat yourself, especially under stress and in close relationships. We unpack the health, wealth, wisdom, and happiness framework and explore why control patterns—anger, blame, withdrawal,...read the full article
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Ep. 108: How A Wealth Team Beats The Tax Return Mindset with Ashley Sowers
If taxes are your biggest lifetime expense, why leave them to a once-a-year scramble? We zoom out and redesign how you plan, using strategies that compound savings over decades while improving cash flow and control today. With Ashley Sowers back in the studio, we explore how a wealth team sees the full picture—your goals, assets, timelines, and family dynamics—and turns today’s tax incentives into clear, defensible moves that simplify your life. We reframe the goal: stop chasing zero tax and start paying a fair, predictable rate when it buys freedom. Ashley explains why extended individual brackets and a high standard...read the full article
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Ep. 107: From Building A $3.5B Firm To Redefining A Life Well Lived with Scott Danner
What if the real competitive edge in wealth management isn’t alpha, but alignment—of money with meaning, and business with a life you actually want? Scott Ford sits down with Scott Danner to unpack how a door-knocking advisor grew Freedom Street Partners into a$3.5B firm, partnered to scale even further, and built a framework for living that keeps ego in check and energy on purpose. We dig into L.I.F.E.—Love, Impact, Faith, Energy—a simple, powerful compass for making decisions when life tilts out of balance. Love anchors the people who matter most. Impact moves beyond job titles into service and legacy. Faith...read the full article
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Ep. 106: Managing Commitments for Stress-Free Productivity with Bob Hendriksen
Feeling buried by work yet driven to do more? We sat down with operations leader Bob Hendrickson to explore a simple truth with big consequences: you can’t manage time, only commitments. From the factory floor to running multi-facility, make-to-order operations at Steelcase, Bob shows how lean principles and David Allen’s Getting Things Done combine into a trusted system that lowers stress and raises output—at work and at home. We trace Bob’s path through hypergrowth, crisis, and supply chain shocks, and unpack why systems outperform willpower. Bob shares his “compass” for action: start with self-mastery (a personal GTD setup that holds...read the full article
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Ep. 105: Taxes Made Simple For High Earners with Rob Cook
Stop letting your tax return tell the only story about your money. We invited Rob Cook—CPA, CFP, and seasoned advisor to executives, athletes, and families—to break down how real tax strategy starts with who you are, where you want to go, and the few moves that actually change your outcome. Instead of chasing every trick on the internet, Rob shows why stacking “base hits” creates immediate savings and flexibility, and how to choose one or two “home runs” that fit your strengths. We talk through the crucial difference between a historian CPA who files forms and a strategic partner who...read the full article
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Ep. 104: A Father, A Son, And A Path From Darkness To Hope with Jacob Ford and Gary Hess
A son on the brink calls his father from a riverbank and hears an answer he never expected: “I think I have some answers. Trust me.” That moment unlocks a story about real wealth—not assets, but well-being—and the hard, human path to get it back. We sit with Jacob Ford as he traces a line from a split home to two combat deployments, the loss of purpose after service, and a three-year fall into alcohol and opiates that led to five overdoses. The turning point is vulnerable and specific: a ten-day protocol blending NAD amino acid therapy, plant-based medicine, and...read the full article
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Ep. 103: Designing a Sale: Value, Timing, and Terms with Brian Goodhart
Ever wonder why some founders exit with clarity and calm while others get trapped by their own success? We sit down with M&A advisor Brian Goodhart of Capstone Strategic to unpack the real mechanics of selling a mid-market business—what buyers actually value, how timing and structure shape outcomes, and why “someday” is a dangerously vague plan. If your company is your largest asset, this conversation helps you protect it. We go deep on the difference between owning a job and owning a transferable business, the quiet power of clean financials, and building a leadership bench that can run without you....read the full article
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Ep. 102: From Money to Meaning: Redefining Wealth as Family Well-Being with James E. Hughes Jr. and Rich Christiansen
What if the word “wealth” never meant money first? We open up the original meaning—well-being—and use it as a compass for healthier families, stronger decisions, and better outcomes. With James E. Hughes Jr. and Rich Christiansen, we unpack why fortunes dissipate, how culture compounds, and where law and leadership can finally serve the humans between the bank accounts. We dive into the universal proverb of “shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves,” reframing it through entropy and agency: you can’t defy the physics, but you can choose when. That choice hinges on adding energy—welcoming new members as contributors, developing elders who steward...read the full article
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