The Keri Croft Show

Hosted by Keri Croft

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Episodes

204

Latest episode

Jun 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

The Keri Croft Show is a podcast for people building something BADASS. A business. A dream. A life that actually feels like yours. Hosted by Keri Croft, this podcast explores the real stories behind the build, what it takes to start, and more importantly, the Mental Athleticism™ it takes to stay in it when the excitement fades and the work gets real. The Keri Croft Show features conversations with founders, creatives, musicians and people in the middle of building something meaningful, without the highlight reel. 🎙 New episodes drop every Thursday.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

June 12, 202614 min

BONUS Episode! Joe DeLoss on Ego, Service, and Modern Masculinity

Send us Fan MailAfter we wrapped my conversation with Joe DeLoss, we kept talking.What started as a conversation about marriage turned into something much bigger: masculinity, ego, service, leadership, and why so many men seem to be struggling to find their footing right now.Joe shares his perspective on the version of masculinity that's being celebrated online, why he thinks it's missing the mark, and what he's learned through building businesses, navigating marriage, raising daughters, and doing the ongoing work of understanding himself.We talk about strength, vulnerability, accountability, and the difference between chasing trophies and becoming the kind of person your family, community, and relationships can actually count on.It's a short conversation, but one that felt too important to leave on the cutting room floor.If you enjoyed my full conversation with Joe, consider this the bonus chapter.

June 11, 20261 hr 16 min

The Founder Who Sold His Hot Chicken Restaurant and Walked Into the Woods with Joe DeLoss

Send us Fan MailJoe DeLoss is best known as the founder of Hot Chicken Takeover, one of Columbus’s most recognizable restaurant stories. But this conversation is not really about chicken.Joe talks with Keri about the rise of Hot Chicken Takeover, the ego that came with it, the people impacted by his leadership, and the personal reckoning that followed. He is honest about marriage, fatherhood, masculinity, ambition, and the uncomfortable reality that success does not automatically make you whole.Now, Joe lives in Mount Vernon and is building Baker Road, a hospitality and retreat concept rooted in nature, adventure, discomfort, and real human connection. Think less corporate retreat, more walking into the woods and remembering you are still a person.This conversation moves from Columbus entrepreneurship to 100-mile runs, natural burials, leadership, vultures, marriage, and what the next chapter of Joe’s work looks like.At its heart, this conversation is about what happens when success forces you to face yourself. Joe’s story is a reminder that growth isn't always glamorous. Sometimes, the real work begins after the big win, when you have to decide who you want to become next.

June 4, 20261 hr 10 min

How to Build a Bigger Life Without Shrinking Yourself with Elizabeth McCormick

Send us Fan MailElizabeth Blount McCormick doesn't think women should play small.As CEO of Uniglobe Travel Designers, she helped navigate one of the most challenging periods in modern business history when COVID brought the travel industry to a standstill. Today, she's leading a nationally recognized company, setting audacious growth goals, and challenging conventional thinking about leadership, ambition, and success.We talk about building through uncertainty, why women need to get more comfortable talking about money, the importance of finding the right rooms and communities, and what it means to be the first Black woman to join YPO Columbus.We also get into entrepreneurship, mental athleticism, self-care, motherhood, identity, and the mindset shifts that help people keep moving when things get hard.If you've ever felt stuck, underestimated, or like you're playing smaller than you're capable of, this one's for you.

May 28, 20261 hr 7 min

Why Most Entrepreneurs Never Actually Start with Nick Braun

Send us Fan MailMost people talk about ideas. Very few actually write the check and start.Nick Braun went from building a pet insurance comparison company to scaling a water filtration business doing millions in revenue. But this conversation is really about risk, timing, relationships, and why entrepreneurship in the Midwest looks different than Silicon Valley.We talk about building businesses in Columbus, raising four kids, moving to San Diego, selling to Petco, funding local entrepreneurs, and why community matters more than people think.Also: Brandon Road lore, Upper Arlington real estate, and a very real debate about what should replace Bed Bath & Beyond.

May 20, 202649 min

Shark Tank, Building Brave & Redefining Success with Megan Pando

Send us Fan MailSixty seconds of total silence doesn’t sound that long… until you’re standing on a Persian rug making eye contact with some of the most famous investors in America.This week, Megan Pando joins me to talk about what Shark Tank actually feels like from the inside — the nerves, the pressure, the mindset shifts, and what happened after the cameras stopped rolling.But this episode goes way deeper than TV.We talk about:✨ Building Makers Social through uncertainty, failed deals, and brutal “in-between” seasons✨ Getting ghosted in business and the stories we create when people don’t close the loop✨ Why scaling fast isn’t always the goal✨ Franchising vs. corporate growth and protecting culture while growing✨ Being a single mom entrepreneur✨ Handling criticism without losing yourself✨ Grief, emo music, bravery, freedom, and redefining success on your own termsThis conversation is honest, funny, emotional, and probably way too relatable if you’ve ever questioned yourself while building something big.And maybe the biggest takeaway?Trying new things while you’re bad at them might actually be the whole point.👇 Drop a comment: What does success look like for you right now?If this episode hit home:✔️ Subscribe to The Keri Croft Show✔️ Send this to a friend chasing something scary✔️ Leave a review — it helps us grow and keeps these conversations goingAnd Keep Moving, Baby!

May 14, 202633 min

Community Over Competition: Motherhood, Mental Health & Movement Haven with Libby Welch.

Send us Fan MailHello, my friend, hello...This week, Libby Welch joins me for a conversation that starts with wedding songs, curly hair, and dance moms… and somehow lands in grief, postpartum anxiety, mental health, identity, and building a business that actually gives a damn about people.Libby opens up about losing her dad after years of overwork and an undiagnosed mental health condition, and how that experience changed the way she sees herself, motherhood, and emotional wellness. We talk honestly about postpartum anxiety symptoms that often get missed — the control, overstimulation, rigid routines, unexplained weight loss, the feeling that something is just… off. Not the cute Instagram version of motherhood. The real one.We also get into:postpartum mental health + asking for helpgrief and generational patternsconfidence, curls, and self-imagebuilding Movement Haven in Dublin, Ohio“community over competition” in youth danceraising emotionally healthy kidsskincare, hydration, intermittent fasting, and random life tangents because obviouslyLibby shares the mission behind Movement Haven and why she believes in “human first, artist second” — a philosophy that feels refreshing as hell in a hyper-competitive world.If you’ve ever struggled with anxiety, grief, identity, motherhood, or trying to build a life that actually aligns with your values… this episode will hit home.And if you came for Neil Diamond and stayed for emotional healing? Honestly, same.🎧 Subscribe, leave a review, and send this to a mom, friend, or fellow overthinker who needs to hear it.#PostpartumAnxiety #MentalHealth #Motherhood #Grief #WomenInBusiness #DanceStudio #DublinOhio #Podcast #AnxietySupport #MentalHealthAwareness #TheKeriCroftShow

May 11, 202616 min

You'll Support Women...Until They Make You Uncomfortable. (We Can Do So Much Better.)

Send us Fan MailThe internet loves to scream “women supporting women”… right up until a woman makes a choice they wouldn’t make themselves.This episode starts with the backlash around Lisa Oxenham’s British Vogue essay about becoming a mom at 49—and spirals into a much bigger conversation about judgment, fertility, grief, motherhood, ambition, and why women can be brutal to each other when something feels unfamiliar, audacious, or uncomfortable.We talk about the comment sections that turn into courtrooms.The silent competition.The projection.The “I support women… but not like THAT” energy.I also share how infertility and loss completely changed the way I look at people’s choices. Because once life humbles you enough, you stop assuming you know what someone else should be doing with their body, timeline, career, or family.We also get into Emma Grede’s comments about women in power, why society says it wants powerful women but struggles when women actually take up space, and what I’ve learned becoming an older mom—aka you finally realize not every tiny thing deserves a full psychological investigation.And we end with this:Can you actually name the thing that makes you you?Your edge.Your essence.Your fingerprint-level badassery.This one is honest, spicy, emotional, funny, and probably a little uncomfortable at times—which usually means it’s worth having.If it hits, send it to a friend, leave a review, and come hang with us on YouTube.

May 7, 202648 min

How to Build a Luxury Design Business With Your Spouse with Paul + Jo Studios

Send us Fan MailThey create some of the most recognizable homes in Columbus, Ohio. But behind the aesthetic is pressure, conflict, obsession, and nonstop work.This conversation with Stacy and Tracy from Paul + Jo Studios gets into what it actually takes to build a design business as a married couple while raising kids, renovating homes, running projects, and trying not to lose yourselves in the process.We talk about creativity vs. practicality, entrepreneurship, farm life, parenting teenagers, and why Tracy and Stacy still believe beautiful spaces can change how people feel.Also, we chat about Brene Brown, meditation, sheep trauma, and why silence feels like luxury once you become parents.

May 4, 202612 min

Can We Love Our Kids AND Still Want Our Own Identity?

Send us Fan MailBy 8 a.m., some of us feel like we’ve already lived a full day.We’re up early trying to work out, get kids fed, get everyone out the door—and still show up like we’ve got it together. Meanwhile our nervous system is already buzzing from constant needs, noise, and decisions.In this episode, I’m naming it: the overstimulation, the mental load, and the exhaustion that hits before your actual day even starts.I also touch on a couple parenting things that have been on my mind lately—nothing preachy, just real observations and questions we’re all kind of thinking but not always saying out loud.And then we zoom out.We get into the bigger conversation around women, identity, careers, and motherhood—sparked by the Emma Grede debate—and what it actually looks like to run a household while still trying to be yourself.Because the question a lot of women are quietly carrying is: Can I be a great mom and still feel like me?If that’s ever crossed your mind, this one’s for you.—If this hits, please send it to a friend who gets it!Make sure you’re subscribed (and. subscribe on YouTube), and if you have a second, please leave a review—it helps more than you think! ⭐️

April 30, 202622 min

It Started as One Lemonade Stand Fundraiser… Now the Goal Is 500

Send us Fan MailIt's back and bigger than ever... that's right we're talking about Little Legends Lemonade Stand Fundraiser 2026. What started as a simple lemonade stand now has a goal of 500 stands nationwide.Keri sits down with the team behind Little Legends Lemonade to talk about how this actually came together, why kids need real-world experiences early, and how something small can turn into something that matters. They also share what it takes to pull this off, how to get involved, and why this cause goes way beyond just “a fun event.”If you’ve got kids, a business, or just want to be part of something bigger, this one’s for you.And stay tuned for the official Little Legends Lemonade Stand dates and details... COMING SOON!