Truthache

Nick is like Uncle Rico, only with a better story.
I mean that in a good way. We always look back at that time we could have been state champions if things had gone our way. As a charter high school coach, Nick did the opposite. He focused on what mattered more, the whole person, and let the opportunity to play basketball be an opportunity to build character. He took a class of unlikely contenders and made them into winners.
They ended up becoming state champions. A total reboot of the Hoosiers' ragtag, underdog story.
While he didn’t realize it at the time, he was unintentionally creating a recipe for success. He looks back on the experience, seeing it as a lesson in developing the individual, and that makes a winning team. He unpacks it in his new book “Every Player is Bigger Than The Program,” where he talks about how the random ensemble became a true team, and how leaders in any arena can apply the same recipe to theirs.
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About the Guest: Nick Reich is an executive of Abundant Empowerment, a leadership coaching consultancy. https://www.abundantempowerment.com/. Preorder his book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Every-Player-Bigger-Than-Program/dp/B0GJYJ3TJX. 
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About The Hosts:
Daniel Herndon is a brand strategist at HRNDN Brand Agency (HRNDN.com) and author of The Lorem Ipsum (danielkherndon.com).
Michael Salemi owns a branded apparel and promotional products company, Colored Threads (colored-threads.com).

How do you divorce your work after years of being married to it?
Angie says that sleeping is her secret to success. Between sleep and therapy, she’s been able to accomplish what entrepreneurs only dream about (if they ever sleep to begin with). 
She’s done her fair share of not sleeping too, when she and Randy, her husband at the time, started and grew One Click Ventures to a successful exit. They both lived their business every waking moment and loved every minute of it. 
After selling the company, Angie had to recalibrate. She shares what she’s learned about herself since splitting from her business, getting divorced, and rediscovering her interests as someone no longer giving every waking moment to a fast-paced ecommerce startup.
We talked about therapy, the benefits, and the stigma, and we also talked about the deeper things – like the meaning of life.
About the guest:
Angie Stockland is the co-founder of One Click Ventures, which was sold to FGX International. She now teaches Entrepreneurship at Purdue. She can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/in/angiestocklin/ and https://www.instagram.com/astocklin/
About The Hosts:
Daniel Herndon is a brand strategist at HRNDN Brand Agency (HRNDN.com) and author of The Lorem Ipsum (danielkherndon.com).
Michael Salemi owns a branded apparel and promotional products company, Colored Threads (colored-threads.com).

How do you manage issues of cost, morality, and urban design simultaneously? That’s why architecture needs people who think like Scott Perkins. 
Meaningful design that also functions for humans requires layered thinking, foresight, and often, course correction. Scott and I, over a glass of the good bourbon, talk about how to navigate all the above separately and what to do when they converge. Scott examines the art of places from the inside out, especially when he’s in their waiting rooms. His release, which he shares in his sketchbook, is also his research and development for the work that he does every day to help his clients make great offices, homes, and public spaces.
We also discuss how to navigate politics with his staff and clients and how to survive the sharp claws of his cat, which definitely finds a way to interrupt his sleep.
Unfortunately, Michael couldn’t make it for this episode, but he’ll be back for the next one. 
About the guest:
Scott Perkins is a principal at the architecture firm, Blackline Studio.
About The Hosts:
Daniel Herndon is a brand strategist at HRNDN Brand Agency and author of The Lorem Ipsum.
Michael Salemi owns a branded apparel and promotional products company, Colored Threads.

What do we talk about when we’re not talking about work?
Rosie would rather talk about the biggest questions. Questions about what kind of dog this is interrupting our podcast, and why is he the best dog ever? Followed by the universal question asked by venerable Doc Brown in the 1985 film, Back To The Future: “Where we’ve been, where we’re going, the pitfalls, the possibilities, the perils, and the promise. Perhaps even an answer to that universal question: Why?”
That’s what this episode is all about. Rosie insists on turning the conversation around on us, unpacking Michael and Daniel. If we were food, we’d be fully peppered (with questions).
About the guest:
Rosie Buchanan is head of business development at @Properties.
About The Hosts:
Daniel Herndon is a brand strategist at HRNDN Brand Agency and author of The Lorem Ipsum.
Michael Salemi owns a branded apparel and promotional products company, Colored Threads.
 

We return after a two-week break, where Daniel traveled to the UK, and Michael probably read a book or cleaned the side of his pontoon boat. Our surprise guest is a Truthache regular, Chris Handberg, who is up to date on all current events and space-related conspiracy theories.
We discussed every one of them. From Trump's episodes of conquest here on Earth to our takeover of the Moon out there in space. We also discuss whether the Apollo moon landing was staged, and much more.
Mentioned in this episode:
Nicola Tesla’s papers, seized by Dr. John Trump in the PBS Archives.
Missing UFO Whistle Blowers (Newsweek)
A Trip to the Moon (NASA)
Daniel's latest article about the US/Iran peace talks.
About The Hosts:
Daniel Herndon is a brand strategist at HRNDN Brand Agency and author of The Lorem Ipsum.
Michael Salemi owns a branded apparel and promotional products company, Colored Threads.

Salespeople are the worst part of humanity. Our guest, Ian Illig, is not the one who said this, but we almost got him to agree with us. 
Think about it. They wear plaid jackets or moisture-wicking fabrics, and promise you they’re giving you a good deal while selling you a lemon. The average salesperson puts pressure on you and disappears after they get their commission. And you're left with the memory of a creepy smile of a guy who calls you "buddy" all the time. That’s what we often picture when someone says “salesman.”
Ian, on the other hand. He is not a salesman. He doesn’t need to be. He has luxurious hair and genuinely wants to see you thrive. Who wouldn’t beg to buy from someone like that? That's why Ian says high-integrity people should go into sales. Because the bar is low, but when you apply the traits of being a good human, you end up making friends, and sometimes, you sell something while you’re at it.
In this chat, we discuss the worst parts of humanity and how you can avoid being an insufferable gasbag. We also discussed the hot air coming out of Washington and the biggest referral fee in history.
About the guest:
Ian Illig is a sales strategy consultant for early-stage companies at stompbox.io.
About The Hosts:
Daniel Herndon is a brand strategist at HRNDN Brand Agency and author of The Lorem Ipsum.
Michael Salemi owns a branded apparel and swag company, Colored Threads.

AI is a joke, and we should take it seriously.
What do Cody Sharp and a software engineer have in common? Neither one of them writes any code. In Cody’s case, he has not been writing code for even longer. Now, with two working SaaS products on the market, I’d say he’s an expert at it.
When we talk about artificial intelligence, Cody is always the first person to come to mind. Not just because of his own intellectual makeup, but because of our ongoing conversations off the mic about the junk AI has allowed us to produce in large supply, and our angry posts online about it. We talk about the necessity of AI in the survival of our economy, as well as its role in creating the modern city dump.
About the guest:    •  Cody owns a web development company, https://sharpguyswebdesign.com/, and is a software developer, basically, thanks to AI. He recently launched an app called RECACE.com.
Mentioned in this episode •  Cody’s newsletter about desperate AI (https://mailchi.mp/4cad0684d3de/turkeys-8342264?e=0a0da13c63)  circus pitches  •  Daniel's screed on LinkedIn about Asana and AI (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/danielherndon_hey-asana-were-friends-right-why-do-activity-7360715123545595904-IG-e?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAG_Aa4B7U6u1QOl_j0Mo-1ZpLBX645FICw)  •  Reflector’s episode about paid protestors (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/paid-protesters/id1743666262?i=1000752900076).
About The Hosts:  •  Daniel Herndon (https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielherndon/)  is a brand strategist at HRNDN Brand Agency (http://hrndn.com)  and author of The Lorem Ipsum (http://danielkherndon.com).  •  Michael Salemi (https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-salemi-40b54b16/)  owns a branded apparel and promotional products company, Colored Threads (https://colored-threads.com/).

If you want to relax and feel good about yourself, there are two good ways to do it. Visiting Stacey Blanton's spa, Skin Renew, or being a guest on our podcast. Stacey, for an afternoon, decided to do the latter, to share how she looks back on business. To learn and then move on. Another good way to relax.
What keeps us up at night are the decisions we made that were maybe the wrong ones, or at least a bigger bite than we thought they were. Stacey shares how she grew her spa business to a second location, from the lessons learned in startup mode, to a new kind of lesson in scale-up mode. 
In either case, if you tell Stacey she's not going to make it, then she almost certainly will. And we can relate (and throughout this episode, we do). 
About Stacey:
Stacey Blanton owns Skin Renew, with locations in Greenwood and Southport, Indianapolis. https://skinrenewdayspa.com/
Mentioned in this Episode:
The time when Markwayne Mullen challenged the President of the Teamsters to a fight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBD4Ous5zY0 
About The Hosts:
Daniel Herndon is a brand strategist at HRNDN Brand Agency and author of The Lorem Ipsum, found at https://hrndn.com/ and http://danielkherndon.com/.Michael Salemi owns a branded apparel and promotional products company, Colored Threads, found at https://colored-threads.com/. 

Oliver Mast was about as close as you get to becoming a pro golfer as anyone ever gets.
He was playing full-time in tournaments, moved to Hilton Head, and was carving his way forward, until the love for the game began to wane, and the uphill battle to get a spot on a major tour became bleaker. Eventually, he decided he needed to hang up his clubs. 
Oliver moved back to Indiana and found an enviable spot as a golf pro on one of the most beautiful private courses in Indianapolis. We talked about what it's like to come within a grass club head’s distance of your dreams, and to give it up, how to pivot, and how to find happiness in chasing a new dream.
About the guest:
Oliver Mast is a professional golfer who had aspirations of making it on the PGA Tour.  He is currently the Assistant Pro at the Woodstock Club, where he continues to chase his dream, albeit in a much different way.
About The Hosts:
Daniel Herndon is a brand strategist at HRNDN Brand Agency and author of The Lorem Ipsum.
Michael Salemi owns a branded apparel and swag company, Colored Threads.

We are part of the culture we created or the one we’ve accepted.
Jenny Vance is very, very lucky. 
She’s a strategic growth consultant and a CRO at a tech company. But I’m not talking about some financial achievement, a business exit, or a lucrative executive role, although she’s had some of those; I’m talking about everyday, strange luck.
She tells us about 30 rounds being fired, feet away from her bedroom window, none of which hit her home. She and her husband we’re 100% safe, too, even as one person in her driveway was not as lucky. She also tells us about a car that flipped over nearly as close to her house, from which she also escaped harm.
Her career path has looked more like course terrain than smooth pavement, but with plenty of worthy achievements and successes. Along the way, she’s learned that she needs to trust two people. Her paid advisors, and herself, with the latter being most important. You might say she’s lucky in business because she has made her luck when she needed it.
Add to that, trusting her employees. Jenny talked some sense into Daniel when he did his typical Gen Z rant in which he almost certainly has a good point, but a change of heart comes when we discuss how generations have learned secrets to work-life that the prior never understood, or took for granted. Jenny says that while Gen Z may use different language, they know what treatment should look like. She explains that culture is created by the leaders, and, as we learn in our conversation, what those leaders create often comes from the lessons they’ve learned, or failed to learn, when they were the new professional on the team.
About the Guest:
Jenny Vance is the founder and CEO of GrowthJen (​​https://www.growthjen.com/) and the CRO of software company, Encamp.
Mentioned in this episode:
Senator Chris Murphy questions Jeremy Carl, who Trump has nominated for Assistant Secretary of State, about his complaints about the “erasure of white culture.” https://www.instagram.com/reels/DUrOt_YjSGA/   
About The Hosts:
Daniel Herndon is a brand strategist at HRNDN Brand Agency and author of The Lorem Ipsum.
Michael Salemi owns a branded apparel and swag company, Colored Threads.