The fears you recognize may not be the ones controlling you. Executive leadership coach and author Hortense le Gentil joins Josh Zolin to uncover the hidden beliefs, inherited expectations, and "mind traps" quietly shaping how we lead and live.

Hortense explains why perfectionism can become a trap, how fear of failure disguises itself as ambition, and why having more success, money, or power rarely silences the internal battle. She also shares the process leaders can use to trace these beliefs back to their source, challenge the voices behind them, and begin writing their own story.

In this episode:

• Why great leaders make space for others
• The hidden anxiety that comes with leadership
• How perfectionism becomes a mind trap
• Why success can disconnect leaders from themselves
• How to identify fears you did not know you had
• The difference between introspection and self-awareness
• Why honest feedback is essential for growth
• How to face fear without allowing it to take control
• What it means to move from a "hero leader" to a human leader

Hortense le Gentil is an executive leadership coach, speaker, and author of The Unlocked Leader: Dare to Free Your Own Voice, Lead with Empathy, and Shine Your Light in the World.

Learn more about Hortense: https://www.hortenselegentil.com/

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At 42, Brad Leavitt had a stroke that changed the way he thinks about time, pressure, family, and leadership. In this episode, he and Josh talk about the wake-up call that forced him to rebuild his life with more intention.

Brad Leavitt is the founder of AFT Construction and host of The Brad Leavitt Podcast. In this episode of Everything They Don't Tell You, Brad joins Josh Zolin for a raw conversation about leadership, pressure, health, family, burnout, and what it really means to rebuild your life after a wake-up call.

At 42, Brad had a severe stroke. He recovered, but the experience changed how he thinks about time, presence, health, and the way he shows up as a father, husband, business owner, and leader.

Brad and Josh also talk about the realities of leading in a high-pressure business, why communication matters so much, how leaders can protect their teams from burnout, what happens when you keep the wrong people too long, and why building a business should not cost you the life you were building it for.

This conversation is for founders, entrepreneurs, business owners, and leaders who are carrying more than people see.

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Guest

Brad Leavitt

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleavitt/

www.aftconstruction.com

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► Download Your 90 Day ROI Playbook — A value packed free guide created by Josh Zolin that teaches you how to Multiply Your Profits with the Skills No One Trains https://bitnw.academy/roiplaybook

Rachel Medina built a seven-figure business after 40, after divorce, and after unimaginable loss. This conversation is about grief, faith, hustle, stewardship, and what success can never replace.

Rachel Medina is an entrepreneur, podcast host, TEDx speaker, and mentor to women everywhere.

In this episode, Rachel joins Josh Zolin for a raw conversation about rebuilding life and business after loss. She shares how she built a seven-figure business from less than $500, why sales mattered more than perfection, how hustle became both a tool and a trap, and how losing her son reshaped her definition of success.

They also talk about faith, grief, men's mental health, stewardship, women in business, and the hard truth that the business you build has to support the life you actually want.

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Guest: Rachel Medina

Rachel Unpacked Podcast

rachelmedina.com

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► Download Your 90 Day ROI Playbook — A value packed free guide created by Josh Zolin that teaches you how to Multiply Your Profits with the Skills No One Trains https://bitnw.academy/roiplaybook

Dr. Eben Alexander was a neurosurgeon who believed the brain created consciousness. Then a seven-day coma changed everything he thought he knew about death, identity, and why we are here.

In this episode of Everything They Don't Tell You, Josh Zolin sits down with Dr. Eben Alexander, neurosurgeon and author of Proof of Heaven, to explore one of the most profound questions we can ask: what happens when this life ends?

Dr. Alexander shares the story of the sudden bacterial illness that put him into a seven-day coma, the medical uncertainty surrounding his survival, and the near-death experience that challenged his understanding of the brain, consciousness, memory, and spirituality.

Josh also brings the conversation back to leadership, ambition, ego, and control. For high performers and business leaders, this episode asks a deeper question: what are you really building, and what are you allowing fear to drive?

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► Download Your 90 Day ROI Playbook — A value packed free guide created by Josh Zolin that teaches you how to Multiply Your Profits with the Skills No One Trains https://bitnw.academy/roiplaybook

Blake Erickson made serious money young. He experienced retirement at 26. Then he realized something most entrepreneurs never want to admit: Success can feel empty when you're playing the wrong game.

In this episode of Everything They Don't Tell You, Josh Zolin sits down with Blake Erickson, New York Times bestselling author and founder of scaling.com, for a raw conversation about focus, ego, purpose, leadership, and what it actually takes to scale a business without losing yourself in the process.

Blake breaks down the core ideas behind The Science of Scaling, including frame, floor, and focus, why impossible goals force better thinking, why most founders become the bottleneck, and why scaling is often more about subtraction than addition.

This episode gets into the tactics of building a better business, but it also goes deeper into the identity work behind leadership. Because growth is not just about revenue. It's about becoming the person capable of carrying what you say you want.

In this episode:

• Why Blake sold everything and went all in on one mission
• How diluted focus creates diluted results
• Why ego is often the real founder bottleneck
• The difference between tactics and principles
• Why impossible goals can create better strategy
• How your floor becomes your culture
• Why success without purpose can feel like failure
• How to attract better people, even in a labor shortage
• Why scaling requires subtraction, not more complexity

Guest: Blake Erickson

Connect: blakeerickson.com

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► Download Your 90 Day ROI Playbook — A value packed free guide created by Josh Zolin that teaches you how to Multiply Your Profits with the Skills No One Trains https://bitnw.academy/roiplaybook

What if the biggest thing holding your business back is you?

In this episode of Everything They Don't Tell You, Josh Zolin sits down with Charles Gaudet to talk about the founder trap, predictable growth, leverage, systems, and what it really takes to build a business that can run without you.

Charles breaks down why hard work alone is not enough, why word of mouth and referrals eventually hit a ceiling, and how founders can start moving from chaos to consistency. They also get into recurring revenue, team ownership, leadership identity, and the uncomfortable truth that many founders are not always the best long-term CEO for the company they created.

This is a conversation for business owners who want growth, but do not want to lose themselves in the process.

Guest: Charles Gaudet

Connect with Charles: https://charlesgaudet.com/

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► Download Your 90 Day ROI Playbook — A value packed free guide created by Josh Zolin that teaches you how to Multiply Your Profits with the Skills No One Trains https://bitnw.academy/roiplaybook

Morgan Haynes is the CEO of Tribal Health, a national healthcare organization focused on bringing advanced care models to underserved rural and Indigenous communities.

In this episode of Everything They Don't Tell You, Morgan joins Josh Zolin for a raw conversation about leadership, identity, alignment, and what feminine leadership really means.

This is not a conversation about gender.

It is about the traits leaders are often taught to suppress: empathy, intuition, vulnerability, softness, and emotional honesty. Morgan breaks down why those traits can become powerful tools when paired with candor, accountability, and mission-driven execution.

Josh and Morgan also talk about the exhaustion of misalignment, why burnout is not always about hours worked, how leaders hide behind kindness, and why the most compassionate thing you can do is often the most direct.

If you are a founder, CEO, manager, or leader trying to scale without losing yourself, this is for you.

In this episode:

• What feminine leadership really means
• Why softness is not weakness
• The balance between empathy and candor
• Why misalignment creates exhaustion
• How intuition shows up in business decisions
• Why mission-driven companies must protect their people
• The difference between kindness and politeness
• What Morgan refuses to give up as Tribal Health grows

Guest: Morgan Haynes

Company: Tribal Health (https://tribalhealth.com/) Subscribe for more episodes!

Most business owners think they have a money problem. Claudio Gambin says the real problem is usually structure, strategy, and the owner becoming the bottleneck.

In this episode of Everything They Don't Tell You, Josh Zolin sits down with Claudio Gambin of GFG Solutions to talk about the truth behind money, taxes, growth, risk, and legacy for business owners.

Claudio breaks down why so much financial advice misses the mark for entrepreneurs, how business owners can think differently about reinvesting in themselves, and why tax strategy should be tied directly to growth and freedom.

They also get into the six-month vacation test, building a business to sell even if you never plan to sell it, the difference between being rich and being wealthy, and why everything compounds: money, time, relationships, decisions, and mistakes.

This episode is for entrepreneurs, founders, operators, and blue-collar business owners who want more than revenue. They want time, clarity, freedom, and a business that can survive without them being the center of everything.

Disclaimer: This conversation is for educational purposes only and is not financial, tax, or legal advice. Talk with your own CPA, attorney, or financial professional before making decisions.

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► Download Your 90 Day ROI Playbook — A value packed free guide created by Josh Zolin that teaches you how to Multiply Your Profits with the Skills No One Trains https://bitnw.academy/roiplaybook

Most owners are not broke because they refuse to work hard. They are broke because they refuse to face the numbers.

In this episode of Everything They Don't Tell You, Josh Zolin sits down with Ellen Rohr for a raw, practical conversation about the money side of business and the personal responsibility that comes with owning the numbers.

Ellen breaks down why business is simpler than most owners make it, why sales, profit, and cash are the three numbers every owner needs to understand, and why "charge more than it costs" might be the uncomfortable truth that saves a business.

Josh and Ellen also talk about self-esteem in the trades, pricing, leadership, cash flow, asking better questions, AI, and the identity shift required to stop operating from confusion and start leading from clarity.

This episode is for the owner who is working hard, doing everything they were told to do, and still wondering why the money is not adding up.

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► Download Your 90 Day ROI Playbook — A value packed free guide created by Josh Zolin that teaches you how to Multiply Your Profits with the Skills No One Trains https://bitnw.academy/roiplaybook

Entrepreneurs chase freedom, but most of them build themselves a harder job. John Lee Dumas breaks down what freedom really takes: discipline, systems, boundaries, and the courage to say no.

John Lee Dumas, founder of Entrepreneurs On Fire and author of The Common Path to Uncommon Success, joins Josh Zolin for an incredible conversation about freedom, discipline, and what most entrepreneurs misunderstand when they start building a business.

JLD explains why entrepreneurship does not automatically create freedom. In fact, it often means trading one boss for hundreds or thousands: customers, clients, listeners, employees, and everyone else depending on the business.

The real freedom comes later.

After the team is built. After the systems are in place. After the processes are clear. After the entrepreneur stops being the bottleneck.

Josh and JLD also talk about defining your perfect day, the role discipline plays in creating freedom, why early-stage entrepreneurs need to say yes, and why later-stage entrepreneurs need to get better at saying no.

The most practical question from the episode:

"Do I need to be doing this?"

Underline the word "I."

Because building a business is hard.

Building a life that business actually supports is the real work.

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► Download Your 90 Day ROI Playbook — A value packed free guide created by Josh Zolin that teaches you how to Multiply Your Profits with the Skills No One Trains https://bitnw.academy/roiplaybook

Most leaders are trained to have answers.

Warren Berger believes the better leadership skill is learning how to ask the right questions.

In Episode 21 of Everything They Don't Tell You, Josh Zolin sits down with Warren Berger, author of The Book of Beautiful Questions and A More Beautiful Question, to talk about the underestimated power of questioning in leadership, business, creativity, and life.

Warren explains why questions are not just conversation tools. They are leadership tools. The right question can open someone up, reveal bottlenecks, challenge assumptions, and bring people into the mission. The wrong question can shut people down, create defensiveness, and turn a conversation into an interrogation.

This episode covers curiosity, humility, listening, follow-up questions, mission questions, the "question sandwich," and why leaders need to stop treating answers as the only currency that matters.

If you lead a team, run a business, manage people, or want to communicate with more clarity and depth, this episode will challenge the way you think about leadership.

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► Download Your 90 Day ROI Playbook — A value packed free guide created by Josh Zolin that teaches you how to Multiply Your Profits with the Skills No One Trains https://bitnw.academy/roiplaybook