Purpose Under Pressure

Hosted by Bryan Lefelhoc

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200

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Oct 2026

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About the show

Purpose Under Pressure is a podcast about developing Sales and Leadership Success…on Purpose and under Pressure. Each week we'll air short monologue's with strategies, analogies and stories meant to inspire sales, marketing and business professionals. We'll also feature weekly high-impact interviews with Sandler sales trainers, and long form interviews with business leaders who have been there and done that, under pressure. Purpose Under Pressure is brought to you by The Ruby Group/Sandler Training in Akron and in Columbus, Ohio, Jacksonville, Florida and Capital Region, NY. Visit https://www.therubygroup.sandler.com/ for more information.

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October 15, 202615 min

Developing a Sales Success Formula, On Purpose with Robert Perry

Too many salespeople start their day with a to-do list that looks more like a list of fires to put out. They stay busy, make a few calls, handle whatever comes their way, and hope the results follow. But there's a difference between being busy and having a plan for success. In this episode of Purpose Under Pressure, host Bryan Lefelhoc, founder of Bryan Media Strategies , welcomes Robert Perry, partner and trainer at Sandler by the Ruby Group, to talk about creating a personal formula for sales success. Robert explains Sandler's Behavior, Attitude, and Technique (BAT) triangle and why those three elements need to work together. Whether you're struggling to hit your numbers, preparing for a new quarter, or simply looking for a more predictable way to grow your business, this conversation offers a practical place to start. You don't need to reinvent your entire sales process overnight. You need to identify what's missing from your formula, commit to the right activities, and hold yourself accountable. Purpose Under Pressure is brought to you in partnership with Sandler by the Ruby Group , serving sales professionals and sales organizations nationwide from their locations in Akron and Columbus, Ohio, in Capital Region, New York, and in Jacksonville, Florida 7 Takeaways — Being Busy Isn't the Same as Being Productive. A day filled with putting out fires and chasing yesterday's problems isn't necessarily moving you closer to your sales goals. A success formula creates structure and direction. — Success Begins with Behaviors You Can Control. You can't control the economy, whether someone buys, or how a prospect responds. You can control the calls you make, the conversations you initiate, and the meetings you pursue. — Behavior, Attitude, and Technique Work Together. Sandler's BAT triangle connects daily activity, personal beliefs, and selling skills through commitment, conviction, and consistency. — You Don't Have to Feel Good to Do Good Work. Waiting until you're motivated to prospect can be a costly mistake. Taking action, even when you don't feel like it, can improve both your attitude and your technique. — Consistency Beats Occasional Brilliance . A spectacular presentation or an occasional big win isn't a substitute for consistently executing the right sales behaviors and techniques. — Don't Let Head Trash Derail Your Success . Thoughts like "Nobody ever answers my calls" can become excuses for giving up too soon. Sometimes the problem isn't your ability. It's that you haven't done enough of the right things. — Your Sales Problems Probably Aren't a Mystery . When results fall short, look at three possibilities: you're not doing enough of the right activities, your belief system is getting in the way, or your selling skills need improvement. ——————- Helpful Links: Robert Perry, Sandler by the Ruby Group: https://go.sandler.com/therubygroup/ Bryan Lefelhoc, Owner, Bryan Media Strategies: https://www.bryanmediastrategies.com/

October 12, 20269 min

Did You Fail Enough This Week?

We all know what success looks like. More appointments. More sales. More revenue. More “Yeses” But what if we deliberately chase something that feels like failure? Instead of spending your day trying to avoid rejection, maybe you should start keeping score of it. Let’s go get some “No’s”! In this episode of Purpose Under Pressure, host Bryan Lefelhoc, founder of Bryan Media Strategies , looks at the numbers behind sales success, and why simply hitting your goal may actually cause you to stop too soon. Because rejection looks a lot different when it’s part of the plan. A “no” isn’t necessarily evidence that something went wrong. It may simply mean you’re doing enough of the right activity to create more opportunities for a yes. Figure out your formula for success, then ask yourself one more question at the end of the week: Did I fail enough? Purpose Under Pressure is brought to you in partnership with Sandler by the Ruby Group , serving sales professionals and sales organizations nationwide from their locations in Akron and Columbus, Ohio, in Capital Region, New York, and in Jacksonville, Florida 7 Takeaways — Know your numbers. Track your activity long enough to understand exactly what it normally takes to create an appointment or make a sale. — Don’t stop when you’re hot. If you hit your sales goal in five calls instead of 30, that’s a reason to keep going, not call it a day. — A great closing ratio isn’t always great. If almost everyone is saying yes, you may be cherry-picking opportunities or simply not talking to enough people. — Make “no” part of the goal. Instead of chasing two sales, try chasing the 24 noes it normally takes to produce those sales. — Rejection changes when you keep score differently. If getting a no moves you closer to your goal, rejection stops feeling quite so much like failure. — More noes can mean more yeses. Increasing the number of people you ask will create more rejection, but it also creates more opportunities to succeed. — Ask whether you failed enough. At the end of the week, don’t only measure your successes. Ask whether you took enough chances to get better at your craft. ——————- Helpful Links: Sandler by the Ruby Group: https://go.sandler.com/therubygroup/ Bryan Lefelhoc, Owner, Bryan Media Strategies: https://www.bryanmediastrategies.com/

October 8, 202617 min

Identifying More and Better Opportunities, On Purpose with Jordan Mullet

Every salesperson knows they need to prospect. And yet it’s often the task we avoid the most. We tell ourselves people won’t answer the phone, emails will be ignored, gatekeepers will shut us down or we’ll hear “no” again. Pretty soon, we’ve built a pretty convincing case for doing nothing. The problem is, your pipeline doesn’t particularly care how you feel about prospecting. In this episode of Purpose Under Pressure, host Bryan Lefelhoc, founder of Bryan Media Strategies , talks with Jordan Mullet, partner and trainer at Sandler by the Ruby Group, to talk about why prospecting creates so much resistance, even for experienced salespeople. A bad call doesn’t make you a bad salesperson. A lost opportunity doesn’t reduce your value. When you can separate who you are from how you performed today, you become freer to take risks, make mistakes and keep going. Prospecting may never become your favorite part of sales, but you don’t have to feel good about it before you do it. Purpose Under Pressure is brought to you in partnership with Sandler by the Ruby Group , serving sales professionals and sales organizations nationwide from their locations in Akron and Columbus, Ohio, in Capital Region, New York, and in Jacksonville, Florida 7 Takeaways — Action can come before confidence. Waiting until you feel ready to prospect can make the resistance stronger. Taking action can actually change the way you feel. — Don’t let a full pipeline fool you. Today’s business doesn’t guarantee tomorrow’s. Consistent prospecting helps prepare you for changing markets, customers and competition. — Stop demanding a sale from every contact. Prospecting is a first conversation, not a marriage proposal. Look for enough interest to determine whether another conversation makes sense. — Plant more seeds. You can’t know which prospect will respond, which relationship will develop or who needs what you offer. Your job is to consistently create opportunities to find out. — Redefine the win. A prospect who now knows your company exists can be progress, even if they didn’t immediately respond or buy. Prospecting works through a series of steps. — Separate your identity from your performance. You have value regardless of whether today’s call went well. Failure at an activity does not make you a failure. — Do the behavior and let the results follow. Like calling yourself a runner because you got up and ran, being a salesperson means doing the work — including prospecting — regardless of how today’s results turn out. ——————- Helpful Links: Jordan Mullet, Sandler by the Ruby Group: https://go.sandler.com/therubygroup/ Bryan Lefelhoc, Owner, Bryan Media Strategies: https://www.bryanmediastrategies.com/

October 6, 202624 min

Taking Care of Family in the Family Business: Under Pressure with TJ White

What would you do if your business lost 90% of its customers almost overnight? You still have employees depending on you. You still have bills to pay. You have no idea how long it's going to last. The obvious answer is to cut expenses wherever you can, starting with people. That’s what businesses have always done. But what if you don’t? In this episode of Purpose Under Pressure, host Bryan Lefelhoc, founder of Bryan Media Strategies , talks with TJ White, President of Tire Source , a second-generation family business with six locations across Northeast Ohio. TJ tells the story of a decision his business made that didn’t make business sense. When COVID hit, people stopped driving. His family’s Tire Source business ground to a halt. Dpwn 90%, almost overnight. What his company did to take care of the employees on the team was unheard of. But the right thing to do is always the right thing to do, no matter what. Purpose Under Pressure is brought to you in partnership with Sandler by the Ruby Group , serving sales professionals and sales organizations nationwide from their locations in Akron and Columbus, Ohio, in Capital Region, New York, and in Jacksonville, Florida 7 Takeaways — Sometimes the math doesn't work. Tire Source's traffic fell by roughly 90%, but the company still chose to keep its entire team at full pay. — Taking care of people has a long tail. Years later, employees still talk about how Tire Source treated them during COVID, and many of them remain with the company. — You can't prepare for every crisis. Nobody expected people to simply stop driving, but TJ says the experience taught Tire Source to prepare differently for whatever comes next. — Diversification creates options. Tire Source has expanded its work with fleets, government customers and other areas so the business isn't as dependent on one type of customer. — Growth isn't just adding locations. With six stores already operating, TJ says the company continues to grow by improving processes, adding services and finding greater efficiency. — Learn the business from the ground up. TJ started by cleaning, changing oil and working on tires before eventually moving into leadership, giving him experience throughout the organization. — People remain at the center. Whether it's employees, customers, vendors or future expansion, TJ keeps coming back to the relationships behind the business. ——————- Helpful Links: TJ White, President, Tire Source: President, Tire Source Sandler by the Ruby Group: https://go.sandler.com/therubygroup/ Bryan Lefelhoc, Owner, Bryan Media Strategies: https://www.bryanmediastrategies.com/

October 5, 20269 min

Whats the Worst Think That Can Happen when Prospecting?

Prospecting can feel awful. You make the list, do the research, block out the time—and then suddenly almost anything seems more appealing than picking up the phone. But what are we actually afraid of? What is the worst thing that can happen when we reach out to someone who may not want to hear from us? In this episode of Purpose Under Pressure, host Bryan Lefelhoc, founder of Bryan Media Strategies , takes a different approach to prospecting. Forget the pep talk and the “you can do it” speech. Instead, Bryan looks at his own struggles with prospecting and asks a much simpler question: What’s the worst thing that can happen? Someone might say no. They might hang up. They might sound irritated. You might stumble over your words or call someone by the wrong name. None of that is fun, but none of it carries much of a consequence either. The bigger problem is that we often treat discomfort as if it were a consequence. It isn’t. And once you separate those two things, prospecting starts to look a lot less intimidating. Purpose Under Pressure is brought to you in partnership with Sandler by the Ruby Group , serving sales professionals and sales organizations nationwide from their locations in Akron and Columbus, Ohio, in Capital Region, New York, and in Jacksonville, Florida 7 Takeaways — Fear loves anticipation. The prospecting call we imagine in our heads is often much worse than what actually happens. — “No” doesn’t cost much. Someone can decline, hang up or be irritated, but a bad call usually ends the moment you move on to the next one. — Discomfort isn’t a consequence. Feeling awkward, nervous or embarrassed is uncomfortable, but that doesn’t mean something harmful has happened. — Avoidance has real consequences. Consistently skipping prospecting can shrink your pipeline, limit opportunities and eventually affect your career or business. — You don’t have to love prospecting. Waiting until you enjoy it or feel completely confident gives fear too much control over your behavior. — The upside is worth considering. One conversation can lead to a customer, referral or opportunity that changes your month, your year or even your business. — Change the question. Instead of focusing on everything that could go wrong, compare the actual downside of making the call with what could happen if you never make it. ——————- Helpful Links: Sandler by the Ruby Group: https://go.sandler.com/therubygroup/ Bryan Lefelhoc, Owner, Bryan Media Strategies: https://www.bryanmediastrategies.com/

October 1, 202616 min

Fueling Team Growth Through Abdication Leadership, On Purpose with Mike Jones

Leadership can come with a dangerous assumption: if you’re in charge, you should lead everything. After all, who else is going to do it? And maybe that’s the question. Because trying to lead everything can actually limit the people around you, and ultimately limit the growth of the organization. In this episode of Purpose Under Pressure, host Bryan Lefelhoc, founder of Bryan Media Strategies , talks with Mike Jones, owner of Sandler by the Ruby Group, about why effective leadership requires knowing what only you can do, and becoming comfortable letting other people handle the rest. Leadership is about creating clarity, establishing guardrails, communicating expectations, and developing people who can lead themselves. When leaders are willing to abdicate responsibility and learn from the people around them, the entire organization has a greater opportunity to grow. Purpose Under Pressure is brought to you in partnership with Sandler by the Ruby Group , serving sales professionals and sales organizations nationwide from their locations in Akron and Columbus, Ohio, in Capital Region, New York, and in Jacksonville, Florida 7 Takeaways — Exploit strengths instead of obsessing over weaknesses. Your weaknesses will probably remain weaknesses compared with your greatest strengths, so build a team that fills those gaps. — A leader doesn't need to be good at everything. The objective isn't a perfectly well-rounded leader; it's a well-rounded team capable of succeeding together. — Authority and expertise aren't the same thing. Being responsible for an area doesn't automatically mean you're the person best equipped to handle it. — Delegation develops future leaders. Giving people genuine decision-making authority helps them become more self-managed and confident in their own judgment. — Failure can be part of leadership development. Good judgment comes from experience, and some of that experience inevitably comes from making bad decisions. — Great leaders resist the urge to rescue. Jumping in because you can do something faster or better may solve today's problem while preventing someone else's growth. — Growing organizations create two-way learning. Strong leaders aren't always the ones doing the teaching; they're intentionally surrounding themselves with people they can learn from, too. ——————- Helpful Links: Mike Jones, Owner, Sandler by the Ruby Group: https://go.sandler.com/therubygroup/ Bryan Lefelhoc, Owner, Bryan Media Strategies: https://www.bryanmediastrategies.com/

September 28, 20268 min

You Don't Need Permission to be a Leader

Leadership begins with influence. Every day, people shape the direction of a team through the standards they set, the attitude they bring, the ideas they contribute, and the way they make the people around them better. You may not be “the leader,” but that doesn’t mean you can’t lead. In this episode of Purpose Under Pressure, host Bryan Lefelhoc, founder of Bryan Media Strategies , looks at leadership from the other direction. Instead of talking about what leaders should do with their authority, Bryan explores what leadership looks like when you don’t have any. Ways you can lead: setting the example, maintaining an attitude that strengthens rather than undermines the team, taking initiative when you see a better way forward, and using your influence to help other people grow. You don’t need authority over someone to have a positive influence on them, and you don’t need permission to take responsibility for that influence. Purpose Under Pressure is brought to you in partnership with Sandler by the Ruby Group , serving sales professionals and sales organizations nationwide from their locations in Akron and Columbus, Ohio, in Capital Region, New York, and in Jacksonville, Florida 7 Takeaways — Leadership is influence. A title may give you authority, but it doesn’t create leadership. — Followers can lead too. You can support someone else’s direction while still influencing the people around you. — Example sets the standard. People notice who prepares, follows through, and takes responsibility. — Attitude affects the team. Leadership can mean helping a difficult situation instead of making it worse. — Initiative reveals leadership. Seeing another option and being willing to raise it shows ownership. — Great leaders make people better. Helping others grow is one of the clearest forms of leadership. — Permission isn’t required. You can take responsibility for your influence from wherever you are. ——————- Helpful Links: Sandler by the Ruby Group: https://go.sandler.com/therubygroup/ Bryan Lefelhoc, Owner, Bryan Media Strategies: https://www.bryanmediastrategies.com/

September 24, 202614 min

Breaking Through the Comfort Zone with Jason Reynolds

Success can be surprisingly comfortable. You find the behaviors that work, develop confidence in them, and naturally begin relying on what you already know. The problem is that what worked yesterday may not be enough to get you where you want to go tomorrow. Growth requires some discomfort. That’s where the good stuff is. In this episode of Purpose Under Pressure, host Bryan Lefelhoc, founder of Bryan Media Strategies , talks with Jason Reynolds, partner and trainer with Sandler by the Ruby Group, about the comfort zone and the subtle ways successful salespeople can get trapped inside it. They explore why selling can be emotionally demanding, why past success can sometimes become an obstacle to future growth, and why pursuing excellence requires the willingness to objectively evaluate where you are today. Jason introduces the idea of looking at growth through three lenses: more, better and different . Sometimes progress means increasing an activity that's already working. Sometimes it means improving your skill or mindset. And sometimes it means trying an entirely different approach. The important distinction is recognizing when you're intentionally following a proven process and when you're simply choosing the path of least resistance. Purpose Under Pressure is brought to you in partnership with Sandler by the Ruby Group , serving sales professionals and sales organizations nationwide from their locations in Akron and Columbus, Ohio, in Capital Region, New York, and in Jacksonville, Florida Key Takeaways: — Comfort can hide stagnation. Repeating what has worked before doesn't guarantee it will keep working. — Growth lives near discomfort. Being uncomfortable often signals that you're stretching beyond what you already know. — Success can become its own comfort zone. Strong results can make it tempting to stop challenging yourself. — Excellence is different from perfection. The goal is continued improvement, not an impossible standard. — Stories shape behavior. What you believe about yourself and your past can quietly determine what you're willing to attempt. — Growth has three lenses. Progress can come from doing more, getting better or doing something different. — The comfort zone can expand. What feels uncomfortable today can become part of your normal capability tomorrow. ——————- Helpful Links: Jason Reynolds, Sandler by the Ruby Group: https://go.sandler.com/therubygroup/ Bryan Lefelhoc, Owner, Bryan Media Strategies: https://www.bryanmediastrategies.com/

September 22, 202632 min

Stepping Up and Stepping Out On Purpose, with Missy Rogers

In sales and leadership, we can spend a lot of energy worrying about whether we’re getting enough recognition, whether the right people see what we’re doing, or whether someone else is getting opportunities we deserve. But there’s another way to build a career: consistently do good work, take care of people, keep learning and let the results build your reputation. In this episode of Purpose Under Pressure, host Bryan Lefelhoc, founder of Bryan Media Strategies , welcomes Missy Rogers, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Tredit Tire and Wheel, about building a successful career in an overwhelmingly male-dominated industry. Missy explains how sales training helped change the way she viewed herself professionally. The concept of equal business stature gave her permission to recognize that her time and expertise had value, that a salesperson doesn’t have to accept disrespect simply because someone is a customer, and that not every piece of business is necessarily good business. Purpose Under Pressure is brought to you in partnership with Sandler by the Ruby Group , serving sales professionals and sales organizations nationwide from their locations in Akron and Columbus, Ohio, in Capital Region, New York, and in Jacksonville, Florida Key Takeaways: — The work builds the reputation. Consistent performance can create opportunities long before a title catches up. — Customer service is a sales skill. Understanding people and solving problems can matter more than arriving with industry expertise. — Confidence can be learned. Experience and training helped Missy recognize the professional value she already brought to the table. — Equal business stature changes relationships. Healthy sales relationships recognize that both the customer and salesperson bring value. — Bias can create additional hurdles. Missy had to establish credibility in an industry where very few women were selling in the field. — Not every customer is a good customer. Successful sales isn’t simply about collecting every piece of business available. — Value protects you from the race to the bottom. When price becomes the only differentiator, understanding what makes your company valuable becomes essential. ——————- Helpful Links: Missy Rogers, VP Sales and Marketing, Tredit Tire and Wheel: https://www.tredittire.com/ Sandler by the Ruby Group: https://go.sandler.com/therubygroup/ Bryan Lefelhoc, Owner, Bryan Media Strategies: https://www.bryanmediastrategies.com/

September 20, 20269 min

How Getting Comfortable Leads to Uncomfortable

We work hard to get comfortable. We want financial security, a job we know how to do, a comfortable retirement and a little less pressure in our lives. There’s nothing wrong with any of that. The problem comes when comfort stops being something we enjoy and becomes the place where we decide to stay. In this episode of Purpose Under Pressure, host Bryan Lefelhoc, founder of Bryan Media Strategies , looks at the strange relationship between comfort and growth, particularly in sales, where the things that make us uncomfortable are often the same things that make us better. It turns out that comfort leads to discomfort. The things we work toward so that we can relax and enjoy life a little actually lead to disappointment, dissatisfaction, and maybe even a far more uncomfortable situation. Purpose Under Pressure is brought to you in partnership with Sandler by the Ruby Group , serving sales professionals and sales organizations nationwide from their locations in Akron and Columbus, Ohio, in Capital Region, New York, and in Jacksonville, Florida 7 Takeaways — Comfort can create discomfort. Stay comfortable too long and boredom, frustration or stagnation can eventually take its place. — Comfort is a reward, not a destination. Enjoy what you’ve earned, but don’t assume the goal is to stay there forever. — Easy can become miserable. A job, routine or life with no real challenge can eventually feel worse than the pressure you were trying to escape. — Your edge needs resistance. Salespeople often perform their best when something requires them to stretch, adapt or fight a little harder. — Avoiding discomfort has a cost. What feels easier today can make life harder later when skills, health or momentum begin to slip. — Discomfort expands what feels possible. The things that challenge you today can become part of a much larger comfort zone tomorrow. — The cycle never really ends. Get uncomfortable, grow into it, become comfortable — then find the next edge. ——————- Helpful Links: Sandler by the Ruby Group: https://go.sandler.com/therubygroup/ Bryan Lefelhoc, Owner, Bryan Media Strategies: https://www.bryanmediastrategies.com/