Above The Business

Hosted by Bradley Hamner

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500

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Jun 2026

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About the show

What if you could step out of the day-to-day and see your business from a whole new perspective? Welcome to Above The Business, where we empower you to rise above the daily grind and embrace a higher way of business ownership. It's time to build your business by design. www.abovethebusiness.co

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60 recent

June 15, 202647 min

#575: Delegation as a Growth Strategy with Kyle Willis

In this episode, Bradley sits down with Kyle Willis from BELAY, a fractional remote staffing company that places experienced executive assistants with small business owners. Kyle shares how the fractional model works, who it's right for, and what separates business owners who build lasting EA partnerships from those who plateau early.They cover how to build your delegation list before you hire, what BELAY's matching and onboarding process includes, how mismatches get handled, and specific workflows that show what a high-functioning EA relationship looks like in practice.This conversation goes beyond hiring tactics. What is the real cost of doing work that only your EA should handle? How do you turn delegation from a task dump into a growth investment? And what does it take to build a true strategic partner who grows with your business over time? If you are a business owner running out of capacity and wondering whether a fractional EA is the right move, this conversation is for you.Download BELAY's free Freedom Framework: text ABOVE to 55123Visit https://workshop.blueprintos.com to register for the upcoming Above The Business workshop.ResourcesBuy Back Your Time by Dan Martell: https://a.co/d/05Rk66SQ Visit BELAY to get in touch with Kyle and his team: https://belaysolutions.com/ Thanks to our sponsorsCoach P ConsultingCoach P found great success as an insurance agent and agency owner, leading a large and stable team of top-performing professionals. Today, he shares the systems, delegation strategies, and specialization methods he developed along the way. Gain access to weekly training calls and mentoring at:https://www.coachpconsulting.comBe sure to mention you heard about it on the Above The Business Podcast.Autopilot RecruitingAutopilot Recruiting helps small business owners solve staffing challenges by taking the stress out of hiring. Their dedicated recruiters work on your behalf every business day, optimizing your applicant tracking system, posting job listings, and sourcing candidates through social media and local communities.https://www.autopilotrecruiting.comMention Above The Business Podcast when you reach out.Direct ClicksDirect Clicks is built by business owners, for business owners. They specialize in custom marketing solutions that drive real results. From paid search campaigns to SEO and social media management, they provide comprehensive digital marketing support to help your business grow.Exclusive offer for listeners:https://directclicksinc.com/abovethebusinessGet a free marketing campaign audit and actionable recommendations.About Above The BusinessAbove The Business is hosted by Bradley Hamner, founder of BlueprintOS, and focuses on helping small business owners transition from Rainmaker to Architect by building systems, teams, and operations that scale.

June 12, 20269 min

#574: Coach vs Consultant

In this solo episode, Bradley Hamner breaks down the difference between coaching and consulting and why it matters for business owners in two practical ways: how they lead and develop their team members, and how they think about finding outside help for their own business.Bradley uses a clear analogy to frame the distinction. A doctor starts with diagnostic questions to understand what's wrong, then shifts to writing a prescription. That move from pulling answers out of someone to giving direct answers is exactly the difference between coaching and consulting. He applies the same thinking to team interactions and to working with advisors or growth programs.This episode goes beyond communication style and into leadership clarity. When should you ask questions and let someone arrive at the answer themselves? When is it time to stop asking and give direction? And what should you actually be looking for when you are the one seeking guidance? If you lead a team or are evaluating how to get better help for your business, this episode is for you.Visit https://workshop.blueprintos.com to register for the upcoming Above The Business workshop.Thanks to our sponsorsCoach P ConsultingCoach P found great success as an insurance agent and agency owner, leading a large and stable team of top-performing professionals. Today, he shares the systems, delegation strategies, and specialization methods he developed along the way. Gain access to weekly training calls and mentoring at:https://coachpconsulting.comBe sure to mention you heard about it on the Above The Business Podcast.Autopilot RecruitingAutopilot Recruiting helps small business owners solve staffing challenges by taking the stress out of hiring. Their dedicated recruiters work on your behalf every business day. They optimize your applicant tracking system, post job listings, and source candidates through social media and local communities.With their continuous recruiting approach, you can save time, reduce hiring costs, and receive pre-screened candidates without paying hiring fees or commissions.https://www.autopilotrecruiting.comMention Above The Business Podcast when you reach out.Direct ClicksDirect Clicks specializes in digital marketing solutions designed for business owners who want measurable results. Their team supports companies through paid advertising, SEO, and strategic marketing systems that help generate consistent leads.Exclusive offer for listeners:https://directclicksinc.com/abovethebusinessGet a free marketing campaign audit where their team reviews your website, SEO, content, social media, and paid advertising, then provides actionable recommendations. If you partner with them, all setup fees will be waived.About Above The BusinessAbove The Business is hosted by Bradley Hamner, founder of BlueprintOS, and focuses on helping small business owners transition from Rainmaker to Architect by building systems, teams, and operations that scale without their constant involvement.

June 8, 202641 min

#573: The Customer Experience Advantage with Daniel Daly

In this episode, Bradley sits down with Daniel Daly, founder of Aim High Now, who spent 20 years in automotive retail and helped scale a dealership group to $700 million in annual revenue. Daniel breaks down what customer service actually looks like as an operating system, not a personality trait.They discuss how to train a team around two focused behaviors, how a single feedback call can diagnose 80% of your service failures, and how tiered incentives move culture faster than accountability alone.This conversation goes beyond tactics and into discipline. What are the two things your team could do consistently that would change how customers talk about you? And how do you build standards that actually hold? If you want customer experience to work as a real competitive advantage, this conversation is for you.Visit https://workshop.blueprintos.com to register for the upcoming Above The Business workshop.Learn more about Daniel Daly and Aim High Now: aimhighnow.comConnect with Daniel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-daly1/ Thanks to our sponsorsCoach P ConsultingCoach P found great success as an insurance agent and agency owner, leading a large and stable team of top-performing professionals. Today, he shares the systems, delegation strategies, and specialization methods he developed along the way. Gain access to weekly training calls and mentoring at:https://www.coachpconsulting.comBe sure to mention you heard about it on the Above The Business Podcast.Autopilot RecruitingAutopilot Recruiting helps small business owners solve staffing challenges by taking the stress out of hiring. Their dedicated recruiters work on your behalf every business day, optimizing your applicant tracking system, posting job listings, and sourcing candidates through social media and local communities.https://www.autopilotrecruiting.comMention Above The Business Podcast when you reach out.Direct ClicksDirect Clicks is built by business owners, for business owners. They specialize in custom marketing solutions that drive real results. From paid search campaigns to SEO and social media management, they provide comprehensive digital marketing support to help your business grow.Exclusive offer for listeners:https://directclicksinc.com/abovethebusinessGet a free marketing campaign audit and actionable recommendations.About Above The BusinessAbove The Business is hosted by Bradley Hamner, founder of BlueprintOS, and focuses on helping small business owners transition from Rainmaker to Architect by building systems, teams, and operations that scale.

June 5, 20269 min

#572: The Hawthorne Effect

In this solo episode, Bradley Hamner explores a phenomenon that applies directly to every small business owner tracking time, marketing, or team performance: the Hawthorne Effect. The principle is straightforward. When you begin measuring something, behavioral changes follow, often before any formal analysis takes place.Bradley draws on his own nine-week experience tracking every working hour, a marketing dashboard experiment his clients ran after a recent workshop, and a real client situation where a team was being asked to update thirteen different metrics each week. He explains how measurement alone shifts behavior, how too little data leaves owners without the visibility to improve, and how too much tracking creates its own problems by pulling people away from the work that actually matters.This episode moves beyond the mechanics of measurement and into a more fundamental question for business owners. Do you have enough visibility into your time, your marketing, and your team to make clear decisions? Are you asking your people to track so many things that the measuring has become the job? And what would change if you focused only on the metrics that actually move the business forward? If you want to use measurement as a lever for improvement without creating unnecessary complexity, this episode is for you.Visit https://workshop.blueprintos.com to register for the upcoming Above The Business workshop.Thanks to our sponsorsCoach P ConsultingCoach P found great success as an insurance agent and agency owner, leading a large and stable team of top-performing professionals. Today, he shares the systems, delegation strategies, and specialization methods he developed along the way. Gain access to weekly training calls and mentoring at:https://coachpconsulting.comBe sure to mention you heard about it on the Above The Business Podcast.Autopilot RecruitingAutopilot Recruiting helps small business owners solve staffing challenges by taking the stress out of hiring. Their dedicated recruiters work on your behalf every business day. They optimize your applicant tracking system, post job listings, and source candidates through social media and local communities.With their continuous recruiting approach, you can save time, reduce hiring costs, and receive pre-screened candidates without paying hiring fees or commissions.https://www.autopilotrecruiting.comMention Above The Business Podcast when you reach out.Direct ClicksDirect Clicks specializes in digital marketing solutions designed for business owners who want measurable results. Their team supports companies through paid advertising, SEO, and strategic marketing systems that help generate consistent leads.Exclusive offer for listeners:https://directclicksinc.com/abovethebusinessGet a free marketing campaign audit where their team reviews your website, SEO, content, social media, and paid advertising, then provides actionable recommendations. If you partner with them, all setup fees will be waived.About Above The BusinessAbove The Business is hosted by Bradley Hamner, founder of BlueprintOS, and focuses on helping small business owners transition from Rainmaker to Architect by building systems, teams, and operations that scale without their constant involvement.

June 1, 202641 min

#571: What Has to Change as Your Business Grows with Brad Farris

In this episode, Bradley sits down with Brad Farris, founder of Anchor Advisors and executive coach, who has spent nearly two decades helping entrepreneurial founders build businesses that can grow beyond them. Brad shares his path from engineering to general management and explains why the skills that launch a business are often the same ones that later limit it.They discuss how the leader's role must evolve at each revenue stage, why profit often shrinks in the $300K to $500K range before it climbs again, and how Brad's three-by-five card method helps founders break their own job into roles that can actually be hired for. The conversation also covers the identity shift from doing the work to running the business, why sales is the last thing to delegate, and how resistance to systems keeps owners stuck.This conversation goes beyond delegation tactics and into the identity behind them. At what stage of growth are you operating from? Are you the bottleneck in your own business? And what would it take to let go of the parts of the work that are keeping you there? If you are navigating the shift from solo operator to business owner and want to understand what has to change at each stage, this conversation is for you.Visit https://workshop.blueprintos.com to register for the upcoming Above The Business workshop.ResourcesLearn more about Brad Farris and Anchor Advisors: https://www.anchoradvisors.comTake the Growth Phase Assessment: https://www.anchoradvisors.com/growth-phaseThanks to our sponsorsCoach P ConsultingCoach P found great success as an insurance agent and agency owner, leading a large and stable team of top-performing professionals. Today, he shares the systems, delegation strategies, and specialization methods he developed along the way. Gain access to weekly training calls and mentoring at:https://www.coachpconsulting.comBe sure to mention you heard about it on the Above The Business Podcast.Autopilot RecruitingAutopilot Recruiting helps small business owners solve staffing challenges by taking the stress out of hiring. Their dedicated recruiters work on your behalf every business day, optimizing your applicant tracking system, posting job listings, and sourcing candidates through social media and local communities.https://www.autopilotrecruiting.comMention Above The Business Podcast when you reach out.Direct ClicksDirect Clicks is built by business owners, for business owners. They specialize in custom marketing solutions that drive real results. From paid search campaigns to SEO and social media management, they provide comprehensive digital marketing support to help your business grow.Exclusive offer for listeners:https://directclicksinc.com/abovethebusinessGet a free marketing campaign audit and actionable recommendations.About Above The BusinessAbove The Business is hosted by Bradley Hamner, founder of BlueprintOS, and focuses on helping small business owners transition from Rainmaker to Architect by building systems, teams, and operations that scale.

May 29, 202610 min

#570: Attract A-Players Playbook

In this solo episode, Bradley Hamner walks through the Attract A-Players Playbook, the first of three team-focused playbooks inside the BlueprintOS operating system. This episode continues a May mini-series on building great teams and gives small business owners a concrete structure for attracting and onboarding top talent.Bradley breaks down the three core elements of the playbook: an A-Player Profile and job description that defines what top talent looks like in each role and how they will be compensated; a written recruiting system with defined steps that owners actually follow every time; and a 90-day onboarding process designed to take new hires from zero to fully contributing as fast as possible.This episode moves beyond hiring tactics and into systems thinking. Do you have a documented profile of what an A-player looks like in each role? Do you have a recruiting process you follow consistently, or are you reinventing the approach every time there is an open seat? And if you could reliably bring someone from day one to full contribution in 90 days, what would that do for your business? If you are building a team and want a repeatable system for attracting and onboarding top talent, this episode is for you.Visit https://workshop.blueprintos.com to register for the upcoming Above The Business workshop.Thanks to our sponsorsCoach P ConsultingCoach P found great success as an insurance agent and agency owner, leading a large and stable team of top-performing professionals. Today, he shares the systems, delegation strategies, and specialization methods he developed along the way. Gain access to weekly training calls and mentoring at:https://coachpconsulting.comBe sure to mention you heard about it on the Above The Business Podcast.Autopilot RecruitingAutopilot Recruiting helps small business owners solve staffing challenges by taking the stress out of hiring. Their dedicated recruiters work on your behalf every business day. They optimize your applicant tracking system, post job listings, and source candidates through social media and local communities.With their continuous recruiting approach, you can save time, reduce hiring costs, and receive pre-screened candidates without paying hiring fees or commissions.https://www.autopilotrecruiting.comMention Above The Business Podcast when you reach out.Direct ClicksDirect Clicks specializes in digital marketing solutions designed for business owners who want measurable results. Their team supports companies through paid advertising, SEO, and strategic marketing systems that help generate consistent leads.Exclusive offer for listeners:https://directclicksinc.com/abovethebusinessGet a free marketing campaign audit where their team reviews your website, SEO, content, social media, and paid advertising, then provides actionable recommendations. If you partner with them, all setup fees will be waived.About Above The BusinessAbove The Business is hosted by Bradley Hamner, founder of BlueprintOS, and focuses on helping small business owners transition from Rainmaker to Architect by building systems, teams, and operations that scale without their constant involvement.

May 25, 202638 min

#569: Why Most Problems Solve Themselves with Brad Poulos

In this episode, Bradley sits down with Brad Poulos, part-time professor, small business consultant, and former operator who helped grow a startup from four people to 200 employees and $30 million in sales. Brad shares his path from a 15-year career in satellite technology into co-running a public company, and what those experiences taught him about leading a small business.They discuss what it takes to build a culture worth protecting, including Brad's approach to core values, pay philosophy, and financial transparency. Brad walks through how his team survived the tech bust and the 2007 financial crisis without losing their people, and breaks down the philosophy behind his book, Most Problems Solve Themselves. He also explains why many owners hit a ceiling around $8 million in revenue when they refuse to let go of decisions, and how a concept called satisficing can free owners from the trap of optimizing every choice.This conversation moves beyond tactics and into how a business actually operates day to day. What does it look like to run a high performance culture with a heart? When does optimizing every decision start working against the business? And what has to change inside the owner for the business to grow past the ceiling they have built around themselves?If you care about building a culture that holds up under pressure and a team that can make decisions without you, this conversation is for you.Visit https://workshop.blueprintos.com to register for the upcoming Above The Business workshop.ResourcesPick up Brad's book, Most Problems Solve Themselves, on Amazon: https://a.co/d/03UjCFxX Learn more about Brad Poulos and access his blog, books, and free small business resources: bradpoulos.comConnect with Brad Poulos on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradpoulos/ Check out Jay Wilkinson's TEDx talk: https://youtu.be/WDFqEGI4QJ4?si=UhADPE8OrMSg0Mgm Thanks to our sponsorsCoach P ConsultingCoach P found great success as an insurance agent and agency owner, leading a large and stable team of top-performing professionals. Today, he shares the systems, delegation strategies, and specialization methods he developed along the way. Gain access to weekly training calls and mentoring at:https://www.coachpconsulting.comBe sure to mention you heard about it on the Above The Business Podcast.Autopilot RecruitingAutopilot Recruiting helps small business owners solve staffing challenges by taking the stress out of hiring. Their dedicated recruiters work on your behalf every business day, optimizing your applicant tracking system, posting job listings, and sourcing candidates through social media and local communities.https://www.autopilotrecruiting.comMention Above The Business Podcast when you reach out.Direct ClicksDirect Clicks is built by business owners, for business owners. They specialize in custom marketing solutions that drive real results. From paid search campaigns to SEO and social media management, they provide comprehensive digital marketing support to help your business grow.Exclusive offer for listeners:https://directclicksinc.com/abovethebusinessGet a free marketing campaign audit and actionable recommendations.About Above The BusinessAbove The Business is hosted by Bradley Hamner, founder of BlueprintOS, and focuses on helping small business owners transition from Rainmaker to Architect by building systems, teams, and operations that scale.

May 22, 202611 min

#568: Buy or Build the Talent

Most business owners eventually face this decision: go find someone who has already done the job, or grow someone from the ground up. In this solo episode, Bradley Hamner breaks down buy vs. build as a practical mental model for any owner who is growing a team, filling a role, or navigating turnover.Bradley uses the college football transfer portal to frame the core trade-off: buying talent costs more money but requires less development time, while building talent costs less upfront but demands more of the owner's time and energy. He covers the difference between production and potential, explains when each approach makes sense, and shares how the best business owners he has worked with think about developing their people.This episode moves beyond hiring tactics and into how owners think about their team. Who should you be spending time developing? At what stage does being the Rainmaker stop serving the business? And when a role opens up, what kind of person are you actually looking for? If you are building a team and want a clearer framework for smarter hiring decisions, this episode is for you.Visit https://workshop.blueprintos.com to register for the upcoming Above The Business workshop.Thanks to our sponsorsCoach P ConsultingCoach P found great success as an insurance agent and agency owner, leading a large and stable team of top-performing professionals. Today, he shares the systems, delegation strategies, and specialization methods he developed along the way. Gain access to weekly training calls and mentoring at:https://coachpconsulting.comBe sure to mention you heard about it on the Above The Business Podcast.Autopilot RecruitingAutopilot Recruiting helps small business owners solve staffing challenges by taking the stress out of hiring. Their dedicated recruiters work on your behalf every business day. They optimize your applicant tracking system, post job listings, and source candidates through social media and local communities.With their continuous recruiting approach, you can save time, reduce hiring costs, and receive pre-screened candidates without paying hiring fees or commissions.https://www.autopilotrecruiting.comMention Above The Business Podcast when you reach out.Direct ClicksDirect Clicks specializes in digital marketing solutions designed for business owners who want measurable results. Their team supports companies through paid advertising, SEO, and strategic marketing systems that help generate consistent leads.Exclusive offer for listeners:https://directclicksinc.com/abovethebusinessGet a free marketing campaign audit where their team reviews your website, SEO, content, social media, and paid advertising, then provides actionable recommendations. If you partner with them, all setup fees will be waived.About Above The BusinessAbove The Business is hosted by Bradley Hamner, founder of BlueprintOS, and focuses on helping small business owners transition from Rainmaker to Architect by building systems, teams, and operations that scale without their constant involvement.

May 18, 202634 min

#567: Leadership in the Fog with Pete Behrens

In this episode, Bradley sits down with Pete Behrens, leadership coach, author, and founder of Agile Leadership Journey. Pete shares how his path from engineering to leadership coaching led him to focus on one of the hardest parts of leadership: guiding people through uncertainty, change, and complexity.They discuss why leadership is different from management, how organizations often fail in execution rather than in strategy definition, and why many business owners hit a false summit where their current leadership style can no longer carry the business forward. Pete also explains the difference between a leader as a title and leadership as a choice, and why real leadership often shows up without formal authority.This conversation moves beyond systems and into the human side of growth. What does it mean to lead when there are no clear answers? How do you stay engaged without micromanaging? And how do you develop the kind of leadership that allows the business to move beyond the founder’s current limits?If you care about growing as a leader, navigating complexity, and helping your business move forward with more intention, this conversation is for you.Visit https://workshop.blueprintos.com to register for the upcoming Above The Business workshop.Learn more about Pete Behrens and Agile Leadership Journey: https://www.agileleadershipjourney.com/Check out his latest book, Into the Fog: https://www.agileleadershipjourney.com/into-the-fog-bookThanks to our sponsorsCoach P ConsultingCoach P found great success as an insurance agent and agency owner, leading a large and stable team of top-performing professionals. Today, he shares the systems, delegation strategies, and specialization methods he developed along the way. Gain access to weekly training calls and mentoring at:https://www.coachpconsulting.comBe sure to mention you heard about it on the Above The Business Podcast.Autopilot RecruitingAutopilot Recruiting helps small business owners solve staffing challenges by taking the stress out of hiring. Their dedicated recruiters work on your behalf every business day, optimizing your applicant tracking system, posting job listings, and sourcing candidates through social media and local communities.https://www.autopilotrecruiting.comMention Above The Business Podcast when you reach out.Direct ClicksDirect Clicks is built by business owners, for business owners. They specialize in custom marketing solutions that drive real results. From paid search campaigns to SEO and social media management, they provide comprehensive digital marketing support to help your business grow.Exclusive offer for listeners:https://directclicksinc.com/abovethebusinessGet a free marketing campaign audit and actionable recommendations.About Above The BusinessAbove The Business is hosted by Bradley Hamner, founder of BlueprintOS, and focuses on helping small business owners transition from Rainmaker to Architect by building systems, teams, and operations that scale.

May 15, 202610 min

#566: Functional Leaders vs Helpers

In this solo episode, Bradley Hamner draws a clear line between leaders who own outcomes and managers who execute tasks. If a business owner still feels pulled into the weeds around their managers, the role has likely never been defined around outcomes.Bradley walks through what outcome ownership looks like across sales, service, and operations roles, and shares a real client example where a simple one-pager reset expectations, resolved unspoken resentment, and gave a leader the clarity to move forward without pulling the owner back in.What are the outcomes you actually want each manager to own? If you removed the person's name from the role and looked at it objectively, would those outcomes be written down anywhere? And how much friction inside your organization exists simply because that conversation has never happened? If you lead a team and feel like you are still too involved in the work your managers should be handling, this episode is for you.Visit https://workshop.blueprintos.com to register for the upcoming Above The Business workshop.Thanks to our sponsorsCoach P ConsultingCoach P found great success as an insurance agent and agency owner, leading a large and stable team of top-performing professionals. Today, he shares the systems, delegation strategies, and specialization methods he developed along the way. Gain access to weekly training calls and mentoring at:https://coachpconsulting.comBe sure to mention you heard about it on the Above The Business Podcast.Autopilot RecruitingAutopilot Recruiting helps small business owners solve staffing challenges by taking the stress out of hiring. Their dedicated recruiters work on your behalf every business day. They optimize your applicant tracking system, post job listings, and source candidates through social media and local communities.With their continuous recruiting approach, you can save time, reduce hiring costs, and receive pre-screened candidates without paying hiring fees or commissions.https://www.autopilotrecruiting.comMention Above The Business Podcast when you reach out.Direct ClicksDirect Clicks specializes in digital marketing solutions designed for business owners who want measurable results. Their team supports companies through paid advertising, SEO, and strategic marketing systems that help generate consistent leads.Exclusive offer for listeners:https://directclicksinc.com/abovethebusinessGet a free marketing campaign audit where their team reviews your website, SEO, content, social media, and paid advertising, then provides actionable recommendations. If you partner with them, all setup fees will be waived.About Above The BusinessAbove The Business is hosted by Bradley Hamner, founder of BlueprintOS, and focuses on helping small business owners transition from Rainmaker to Architect by building systems, teams, and operations that scale without their constant involvement.