Grow With Purpose

Hosted by Axiom Strategic

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Episodes

196

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Jul 2026

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About the show

Grow with Purpose is a podcast for leaders, entrepreneurs, and business owners who want to build more than just a profitable company — they want to build a business that matters. Rooted in the principles of Joey Brannon’s book, "Grow with Purpose," this show explores what it means to grow on purpose and with purpose . Each episode features real conversations with business owners, industry experts, and mission-minded leaders who are integrating faith, values, and strategy into every layer of their business. Topics range from culture and team health to financials, operations, leadership, hiring and firing, and more — all viewed through the lens of lasting impact and spiritual alignment . Whether you're navigating the complexities of entrepreneurship, scaling your team, or making tough decisions that test your values, this podcast will challenge and equip you to lead with clarity, conviction, and purpose — in both business and life.

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60 recent

August 28, 2026Episode 19831 min

198: How Owners Step Back Without Breaking the Business (Part 2)

Billy Swanson's two sons and his nephew are the third generation at Tri County Air Conditioning and Heating, and all three of them hold shares in it. Getting there took six or seven years. Three of those years were standing meetings two or three times a month on sales, cost of sales, liabilities, assets, financial statements, and leadership styles, and a full year went to one book about mission drift. Before anything was signed, Billy asked each man whether they would be willing to own the company and never be the CEO. Joey and Billy get into what a shareholder does, why the next generation wrote the vision instead of inheriting it, and what Billy would do over again. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN: • Before shares change hands: Can you own it without being CEO? • What shareholders actually do, and how little that requires. • Why next-gen owners should think like employees. • Why the next generation should write, not inherit, the vision. DOWNLOAD THE LEADERSHIP GUIDE: ‍ ‍ Episode 198 - How Owners Step Back Without Breaking the Business (Part 2) HELP US IMPROVE THE SHOW: Take our 30 second Survey 📞 Have a question? Email us at contact@axiomstrategic.com CONNECT WITH AXIOM • Website • LinkedIn • Instagram • Facebook • YouTube ABOUT AXIOM STRATEGIC: Axiom Strategic helps business owners and leaders build mission-driven businesses by aligning culture, leadership, operations, sales, and financials.

July 31, 2026Episode 19755 min

197: How Owners Step Back Without Breaking the Business (Part 1)

Billy Swanson spent years treating ministry and business as two separate things that were in conflict with each other. He came back from a family vacation in North Carolina with a new purpose statement, a new vision statement, and a new mission statement, and then called a meeting to tell his employees they no longer had a job at the company they knew. Instead they could work for a new company with a different standard for getting the job done. From here on, if a customer was not compelled to tell somebody about their experience, the mission was not accomplished. Joey and Billy get into the redefinition, the Comfort Care department that came out of it, and the work of getting out of the way so the business could run without him. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN: • Why the business and the calling are not two competing jobs. • How to write a mission your team can pass or fail on a given day. • Why a three-week vacation is the test of whether you can step back. • What a weekly financial statement catches that a monthly one buries. DOWNLOAD THE LEADERSHIP GUIDE: ‍ ‍ Episode 197 - How Owners Step Back Without Breaking the Business HELP US IMPROVE THE SHOW: Take our 30 second Survey 📞 Have a question? Email us at contact@axiomstrategic.com CONNECT WITH AXIOM • Website • LinkedIn • Instagram • Facebook • YouTube ABOUT AXIOM STRATEGIC: Axiom Strategic helps business owners and leaders build mission-driven businesses by aligning culture, leadership, operations, sales, and financials.

July 17, 2026Episode 1961 hr 4 min

196: Nothing Fixes Itself - 40 Years of Leadership Lessons

Every owner who sits down with us asks for the same thing: more accountability . Almost none describe it as a leadership problem. Chris Romine has spent 40 years in financial services, and he leads his market inside a large institution the way an owner leads a company: a P&L he answers for, a mission he can say out loud, and a team he refuses to let one person grind down. Joey and Chris get into the hard conversation, the mentors who cared before either new what a mentor was, and the sustained discipline required to make it all work. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN: • Why the businesses that stand out in a community are the ones whose owners are genuinely bought in to the community, and how customers hear that on the first phone call. • How to open a hard conversation calmly, tie it to the mission, and close it well. • What it costs the rest of your team when you insulate yourself from a problem instead of addressing it • Why discipline outlasts motivation, in savings and in leadership DOWNLOAD THE LEADERSHIP GUIDE: ‍ ‍ Episode 196 - Nothing Fixes Itself (Chris Romine) HELP US IMPROVE THE SHOW: Take our 30 second Survey 📞 Have a question? Email us at contact@axiomstrategic.com CONNECT WITH AXIOM • Website • LinkedIn • Instagram • Facebook • YouTube ABOUT AXIOM STRATEGIC: Axiom Strategic helps business owners and leaders build mission-driven businesses by aligning culture, leadership, operations, sales, and financials.

July 8, 2026Episode 19536 min

195: Course Correction: When Your Plan Derails in Q2 (Revisited in 2026)

By midyear, a lot of leadership teams are off the plan they set in January. Sometimes that's a rough patch. Sometimes it's something bigger. The hard part is knowing which one you're in before the window to fix it closes. In this episode, Mike LoBue sits down with Joey Brannon to work through how to diagnose a midyear drift, tell a tactical problem from a systemic one, and reset priorities without throwing out the plan or losing the team's trust. They get into why most plans stall by Q2, what the team's silence is really telling you, and how Axiom's Agenda 52 framework builds the weekly rhythm that keeps a leadership team on course all year long. This episode first aired in July 2025 as Episode 156. We're bringing it back as a midyear check-in on the plans you set at the start of the year. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN: • How to tell the difference between a rough patch and a systemic drift — before the data confirms it • Why most midyear plan failures are execution problems, not strategy problems • How to reset priorities and adjust tactics without losing the team's trust or abandoning the vision • Why weekly cadence matters more than quarterly rescues — and how Agenda 52 makes it practical DOWNLOAD THE LEADERSHIP GUIDE: ‍ ‍ Episode 156: Course Correction - When Your Plan Derails in Q2 (Revisted in 2026) HELP US IMPROVE THE SHOW: Take our 30 second Survey 📞 Have a question? Email us at contact@axiomstrategic.com CONNECT WITH AXIOM • Website • LinkedIn • Instagram • Facebook • YouTube ABOUT AXIOM STRATEGIC: Axiom Strategic helps business owners and leaders build mission-driven businesses by aligning culture, leadership, operations, sales, and financials.

June 26, 2026Episode 19436 min

194: What Real Ownership Freedom Looks Like

Owners say they want freedom. Push on the word and most are describing relief - not being overwhelmed, not carrying every decision, not putting out every fire. That's real, but it's a short-term fix. Real freedom is different: it's what's left once the structure, the team, and the standards can carry the business without the owner in every room. Mike LoBue and Tommy Rohrlack separate the two, get into why a team learns to wait for the owner, why control is usually a standards problem and not a trust problem, and why most owners regret selling when they never planned the next chapter. It's worth knowing which one you're after before you plan an exit or a vacation. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN: • Why “I want freedom” usually translates to “I want relief,” and why that distinction changes everything. • The question that quickly shows how owner-dependent your business is: what breaks when you leave? • Why most owners regret selling and the one thing the other group did differently • What separates a free owner from one who has quietly checked out DOWNLOAD THE LEADERSHIP GUIDE: ‍ ‍ Episode 194: What Real Ownership Freedom Looks Like REFERENCES: John Maxwell : The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership (the Law of the Lid) Stephen Covey: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and The Speed of Trust Jocko Willink and Leif Babin: Extreme Ownership (prioritize and execute) Exit Planning Institute: State of Owner Readiness HELP US IMPROVE THE S HOW: Take our 30 second Survey 📞 Have a question? Email us at contact@axiomstrategic.com CONNECT WITH AXIOM • Website • LinkedIn • Instagram • Facebook • YouTube ABOUT AXIOM STRATEGIC: Axiom Strategic helps business owners and leaders build mission-driven businesses by aligning culture, leadership, operations, sales, and financials.

June 20, 2026Episode 1931 min

193: Owner Thinking vs. Manager Thinking

Every owner says some version of the same thing: they wish their people would think like owners. In this episode, Joey Brannon and Tommy Rohrlack take that wish apart and rebuild it into something an owner can use. They get into what owners are really asking for, why most founders react like operators instead of thinking like owners, the margin it takes to think at all, and the grip on control that keeps them buried in the work. The conversation ultimately points back to the owner. Building margin, thinking further ahead, and letting go of control are often the first steps toward helping a team take greater ownership. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN: • What owners are really asking for when they say they want owner thinking • Why margin, not mindset, is the first step out of reacting like an operator • The 80% hurdle for letting go, and why it isn’t about lowering your standard • How fear, not a people problem, keeps owners stuck in the weeds DOWNLOAD THE LEADERSHIP GUIDE: ‍ ‍ Episode 193: Owner Thinking vs. Manager Thinking HELP US IMPROVE THE SHOW: Take our 30 second Survey 📞 Have a question? Email us at contact@axiomstrategic.com CONNECT WITH AXIOM • Website • LinkedIn • Instagram • Facebook • YouTube ABOUT AXIOM STRATEGIC: Axiom Strategic helps business owners and leaders build mission-driven businesses by aligning culture, leadership, operations, sales, and financials.

June 12, 2026Episode 1921 min

192: When Growth Breaks the Owner

Every owner wants growth. Few are ready for the version that shows up uninvited and never lets up. In this episode, Joey Brannon and Tommy Rohrlack talk through what happens when sustained growth starts to break the owner: the apathy that signals burnout, the financial squeeze that hides behind rising revenue, and the hard conversations owners avoid until the weight lands entirely on their own shoulders. They walk through the three identities every owner moves through and the one that actually survives growth, and they close with a single practice you can start this week. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN: • Why the most dangerous growth is the kind you didn't plan for • The two telltale signs of burnout: apathy in decisions and no time away from the business • Why avoiding a hard conversation about a key person is what breaks the owner • The three owner identities and why leading people, not doing the work, is what scales DOWNLOAD THE LEADERSHIP GUIDE: ‍ ‍ Episode 192: When Growth Breaks the Owner HELP US IMPROVE THE SHOW: Take our 30 second Survey 📞 Have a question for the show? Email us at contact@axiomstrategic.com CONNECT WITH AXIOM • Website • LinkedIn • Instagram • Facebook • YouTube ABOUT AXIOM STRATEGIC: Axiom Strategic helps business owners and leaders build mission-driven businesses by aligning culture, leadership, operations, sales, and financials.

June 5, 2026Episode 19153 min

191: Not All PE Is the Devil

Joey Brannon sits down with Axiom advisor Cameron Earhart, CEPA, to break down a recent client sale to a private equity firm. Cameron worked with the owner through the process, and the two talk candidly about why the buyer mattered more than the number, what changes the day after closing, and how the right firm turns a team loose to grow. It is an honest look at how these deals work from the inside and how to land in the small group of owners who are genuinely glad they sold. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN: • Why your future CEO is the relationship that decides everything • How to read a buyer before you sign the LOI • What changes the day after you sell • The three boxes to check before your first PE meeting DOWNLOAD THE LEADERSHIP GUIDE: ‍ ‍ Episode 191: Not All PE Is The Devil HELP US IMPROVE THE SHOW: Take our 30-second Su rvey Have a question for the show? Email us at contact@axiomstrategic.com CONNECT WITH AXIOM • Website • LinkedIn • Instagram • Facebook • YouTube ABOUT AXIOM STRATEGIC: Axiom Strategic helps business owners and leaders build mission-driven businesses by aligning culture, leadership, operations, sales, and financials.

May 29, 2026Episode 19041 min

190: Three Moves That Change a Company

Mike LoBue had just walked a packed advisor circle event through three moves one of our clients made that changed their business. The day after, Joey pulled him into the studio to go through them again while the conversation was fresh. The three moves: leadership development, a real scorecard, and a planning and execution rhythm. Each one is the kind of move owners delay. Each one is the kind that changes what a company is capable of when it finally gets made. Mike and Joey also get into the accountability question every CEO has to answer before any of it sticks. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN: • The hard conversation most owners avoid about their leadership team • How to honor long-tenured employees the right way when the seat fit has shifted • Why financial statements aren't a scorecard, and what a real one looks like • Why 52 chances a year to adjust beats 12, and what the weekly meeting takes • The accountability question every CEO has to answer before the team will DOWNLOAD THE LEADERSHIP GUIDE: ‍ ‍Episode Episode 190: Three Moves That Change a Company HELP US IMPROVE THE SHOW: Take our 30-second Su rvey Have a question for the show? Email us at contact@axiomstrategic.com CONNECT WITH AXIOM • Website • LinkedIn • Instagram • Facebook • YouTube ABOUT AXIOM STRATEGIC: Axiom Strategic helps business owners and leaders build mission-driven businesses by aligning culture, leadership, operations, sales, and financials.

May 22, 2026Episode 18923 min

189: Why Your Team Isn’t Taking Ownership

“My team just won’t take ownership.” Most owners say it as a verdict on their people. Tommy Rohrlack and Cameron Earhart push back on that diagnosis. Before you decide you hired the wrong people, or that a younger generation just doesn’t care, look at the environment those people are working in. Tommy and Cameron get into what ownership means, the culture that makes it possible, the clarity that gives it somewhere to land, and the uncomfortable possibility that the owner is the bottleneck. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN: • Why “act like an owner” is the wrong thing to ask for, and what to ask for instead. • The three things a culture needs before anyone takes a risk: safety, connection, and a sense of future. • How clear expectations turn into real accountability. • What it looks like when the owner is the bottleneck — and the first move toward fixing it. DOWNLOAD THE LEADERSHIP GUIDE: ‍ ‍Episode 189: Why Your Team Isn’t Taking Ownership HELP US IMPROVE THE SHOW: Take our 30 second Su rvey Have a question for the show? Email us at contact@axiomstrategic.com CONNECT WITH AXIOM • Website • LinkedIn • Instagram • Facebook • YouTube ABOUT AXIOM STRATEGIC: Axiom Strategic helps business owners and leaders build mission-driven businesses by aligning culture, leadership, operations, sales, and financials.