GrowthReady Podcast with Steve Mellor

Steve sits down with Nick Montalbine, founder of Inner Voice Analytics, for a conversation about growth, change, listening to the signals around us, and knowing when something needs to change before the cracks become chasms.
Nick’s career has taken him from Nike and the world of Lean Six Sigma to entrepreneurship, leadership, and helping organizations better understand what their people are really experiencing. Along the way, he learned that growth does not always begin with a big breakthrough. Sometimes, it starts with the small signals we are tempted to ignore.
Nick shares a deeply personal look at the signs he experienced before leaving Nike – diminished pride in his work, irritability, insomnia, fatigue, and eventually a moment when he realized he had been overwhelmed for far longer than he wanted to admit. Those micro moments eventually became a much bigger realization: something had to change.
Today, that same philosophy shapes his work with organizations through Inner Voice Analytics, where he helps leaders listen more closely to their people before small problems turn into much bigger ones.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
• The difference between micro moments and macro moments of change
• Recognizing the signals that tell us something is no longer working
• Knowing when to say yes and how to apply your strengths
• How family, health, and personal values shape the decisions we make
• Finding balance between strategy, the day-to-day, and listening to your team
• The importance of hearing the hard truths
• How ignoring small signals can allow cracks to become chasms
• Why our feelings and physical well-being are important signals, even when things look successful on paper

Whether you are questioning your next career move, leading a team through change, or simply sensing that something in your life is no longer working the way it once did, Nick’s story offers an important reminder: the signals are often there long before the breakthrough.
Listen now and ask yourself: What is your life or work trying to tell you that you might not be listening to?
About the Guest:
Nick Montalbine is the founder of Inner Voice Analytics, a consultancy that leaders turn to when something feels off, but the data says everything’s fine. He helps organizations surface what’s really happening beneath the surface using continuous listening and behavioral analytics to detect cultural cracks before they spread.
Nick’s work focuses on early signal detection, spotting disengagement before it turns into attrition, and helping leaders intervene before culture breaks. His approach blends behavioral science with AI-driven listening to build workplaces where people feel heard, valued, and motivated to stay.
With over 20 years of experience, Nick has led transformation efforts across Fortune 100 companies and complex systems in healthcare, retail, and finance. He’s held leadership roles at Nike and Legacy Health, where he helped guide large-scale organizational change by uncovering risks traditional metrics missed.
Leaders call Nick when performance dips, trust erodes, or culture starts to fracture, often before it shows up in turnover.
He lives in Oregon’s Willamette Valley with his wife and daughter, where they grow grapes and build a life with the same intentionality he brings to his work.
Connect with Nick:
Website: https://www.innervoiceanalytics.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickmontalbine/
Stay connected and keep growing with Steve:
  •  LinkedIn
  •  Instagram
  •  Book Steve to speak at your next event → www.stevemellorspeaks.com  
  •  Support the GrowthReady Podcast by leaving a 5-star rating → Apple Podcasts
Connect with GrowthReady
Join the community and keep your growth journey going:
  •  LinkedIn 
  •  Instagram
  •  Facebook
  •  Official Website 

- Send us Fan Mail
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Send us Fan Mail
Support the show
Connect with Steve Mellor
Stay connected and keep growing with Steve:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-mellor-cc/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/coachstevemellor
Book Steve to speak at your next event → www.stevemellorspeaks.com
Support the GrowthReady Podcast by leaving a 5-star rating → Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/growthready-podcast/id1406082163
Connect with GrowthReady
Join the community and keep your growth journey going:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearegrowthready/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/growthreadypodcast/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/growthreadywithcoachstevemellor
Official Website - https://growthready.com/
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This podcast was produced on Riverside and released via ...

Steve sits down with Cindy Cohn, former Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, for a conversation about values, leadership, change, and knowing when it is time to make room for what comes next.
Cindy has spent decades fighting for digital rights, privacy, free speech, and a better internet for the people who use it. Her career is a powerful example of what it means to stay grounded in your values while remaining flexible enough to adapt as the world changes around you.
Cindy also shares a deeply personal look at her decision to step away from her leadership role at EFF. Not because the mission stopped mattering, but because she knew it was time to create space for the next chapter.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
What it means to be “growth ready”
Building a career around values instead of a fixed title
Leading through constant change
Why change should not be treated as a solo sport
How to protect the work that gives you energy
The importance of listening across an organization
Cindy’s transition out of EFF and into what comes next
Her book, Privacy’s Defender: My Thirty-Year Fight Against Digital Surveillance
Whether you are navigating transition, leading through uncertainty, or trying to reconnect with the work that fuels you, Cindy’s story offers a thoughtful reminder: staying true to your values does not mean staying still.
Listen now and ask yourself: What part of your work gives you energy right now?

About the Guest:
Cindy Cohn is a digital rights attorney and longtime leader in the fight for privacy, free expression, and civil liberties online.

She served as Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) for a decade and spent 26 years helping shape the organization’s work as the internet evolved—from early battles over encryption to today’s questions around platform power, surveillance, and AI.

Cindy is also the author of Privacy’s Defender: My 30-Year Fight Against Digital Surveillance (MIT Press). Proceeds support EFF.

Connect with Cindy:
EFF:  https://www.eff.org 
Cindy’s book page (via EFF):  https://www.eff.org  (search “Privacy’s Defender”)
Book retailers: available wherever books are sold (including audiobook)

Send us Fan Mail
Support the show
Connect with Steve Mellor
Stay connected and keep growing with Steve:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-mellor-cc/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/coachstevemellor
Book Steve to speak at your next event → www.stevemellorspeaks.com
Support the GrowthReady Podcast by leaving a 5-star rating → Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/growthready-podcast/id1406082163
Connect with GrowthReady
Join the community and keep your growth journey going:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearegrowthready/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/growthreadypodcast/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/growthreadywithcoachstevemellor
Official Website - https://growthready.com/
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This podcast was produced on Riverside and released via ...

David Hiler’s answer to “What does it mean to be growth ready? ”is simple—and hard-earned: adapt to whatever comes your way.
A lifelong runner and hospitality entrepreneur, David’s life changed fast when a knee issue turned into cancer. Faced with two paths—an invasive rebuild with uncertain outcomes or amputation with a clear shot at living fully—he chose the decision that protected what mattered most: movement, presence, and the life he wanted to keep saying yes to.
Then came the second wave: recovering during COVID while trying to keep multiple hospitality businesses alive. What followed wasn’t just a comeback story. It was a full reset.
In this conversation, David shares what it looked like to let go of the “more, bigger, next” mindset, selling the house, exiting the businesses, and trading a life of constant pressure for a life built around freedom, health, and daily happiness. Along the way, he talks candidly about the hard days too: the frustration, the self-consciousness, the work of journaling when you don’t feel like it, and the discipline of choosing yourself before life forces the issue.
About the Guest:
David Hiler is a former hospitality operator who built and ran multiple businesses, including a restaurant and brewery, before stepping into a new chapter after losing his leg to cancer.
Today, David works as a consultant for bed & breakfasts and country inns, while traveling full-time with his wife in an RV—building a life around movement, simplicity, and the places that make them feel most alive.
He’s also an advocate for accessible mobility through So Everybody Can Move, supporting efforts to improve insurance coverage for prosthetic options that help amputees live fully (including water legs, running blades, and sport-specific prosthetics).
Connect with David:
Instagram: @dhiler
Facebook: @drhiler
Advocacy:  https://soeverybodycanmove.org/
Adaptive Training Foundation: https://www.adaptivetrainingfoundation.org/ 
Amputee Coalition: https://amputee-coalition.org/
Send us Fan Mail
Support the show
Connect with Steve Mellor
Stay connected and keep growing with Steve:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-mellor-cc/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/coachstevemellor
Book Steve to speak at your next event → www.stevemellorspeaks.com
Support the GrowthReady Podcast by leaving a 5-star rating → Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/growthready-podcast/id1406082163
Connect with GrowthReady
Join the community and keep your growth journey going:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearegrowthready/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/growthreadypodcast/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/growthreadywithcoachstevemellor
Official Website - https://growthready.com/
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This podcast was produced on Riverside and released via ...

Jared Goralnick joins the GrowthReady Podcast with a deceptively simple definition of what it means to be growth ready: manage your energy and get clear on where you’re going.
Jared Goralnick has spent 15 years building products that help organizations find, develop, and grow talent. He was Head of Product at LinkedIn Recruiter and VP of Product at Upwork, Go1, and Articulate, and previously founded SET Consulting and VC-backed AwayFind. He now leads Your360 AI, using voice AI to make coaching-grade, interview-style 360 feedback accessible beyond the executive level.
The conversation goes deep into something most leaders avoid until it’s too late, feedback, not the vague “be more strategic” kind, but the kind that actually creates awareness, patterns, and a path forward.
Jared shares why the most dangerous feedback problem isn’t harsh criticism, it’s being in the dark. And he breaks down what it takes to create the “door” for feedback to happen, how to make it useful, and why strengths deserve just as much attention as growth areas.
If you’re a leader, founder, or high performer who cares about sustainable growth, this episode will help you:
Build a practical definition of growth readiness: energy + clarity
Understand why effective doesn’t mean being right
Create a healthier relationship with feedback (giving and receiving)
Turn vague feedback into something specific, usable, and actionable
Use technology to support better leadership, without losing the human part
Connect with Jared
Website:  https://your360.ai 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/goralnick/ 
Send us Fan Mail
Support the show
Connect with Steve Mellor
Stay connected and keep growing with Steve:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-mellor-cc/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/coachstevemellor
Book Steve to speak at your next event → www.stevemellorspeaks.com
Support the GrowthReady Podcast by leaving a 5-star rating → Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/growthready-podcast/id1406082163
Connect with GrowthReady
Join the community and keep your growth journey going:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearegrowthready/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/growthreadypodcast/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/growthreadywithcoachstevemellor
Official Website - https://growthready.com/
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This podcast was produced on Riverside and released via ...

Patrick O’Donnell is the founder of Ignite Five and a performance-and-growth coach who helps leaders and organizations build repeatable rhythms that drive results without sacrificing the human being behind the role. He’s known for translating “systems” into something practical, daily routines, clear expectations, and real accountability.
In this conversation, Patrick shares how the 2008 real estate crash became a turning point that pushed him to study peak performers and build a framework for sustainable growth. He also breaks down the “Personal Compass” (the 8 F’s) and why leaders who invest in their people’s whole lives create better performance, retention, and culture.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing the right work… but doing it the hard way, this episode will land.
You’ll hear:
Why “growth ready” starts with preparation—the work you do before the moment demands it
The difference between being pushed by pressure and being pulled by a clear vision
A simple way to think about systems (no tech required): rhythms, routines, and disciplines
The 8 F’s framework (faith, family, friends, finances, fitness, fulfillment, freedom, fun) and how it creates alignment in life and leadership
Why great leaders don’t only manage output, they build people
If you’re leading a team, building a business, or trying to create a life that still feels like yours while you chase big goals, this conversation will give you language—and a starting point.
Connect with Patrick:
LinkedIn: Patrick O’Donnell III
Website: www.ignite5.com 
#leadership #highperformance #performanceunderpressure #mindset #systems #habits #executivecoaching #culture #teamperformance #growthready
Send us Fan Mail
Support the show
Connect with Steve Mellor
Stay connected and keep growing with Steve:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-mellor-cc/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/coachstevemellor
Book Steve to speak at your next event → www.stevemellorspeaks.com
Support the GrowthReady Podcast by leaving a 5-star rating → Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/growthready-podcast/id1406082163
Connect with GrowthReady
Join the community and keep your growth journey going:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearegrowthready/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/growthreadypodcast/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/growthreadywithcoachstevemellor
Official Website - https://growthready.com/
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This podcast was produced on Riverside and released via ...