The Business Development Podcast

What if the biggest thing influencing your pricing, growth, and business decisions has nothing to do with strategy? In Episode 359 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with growth strategist, certified business coach, Trauma of Money Certified Practitioner, and Imposter Syndrome Coach Practitioner Brittney Ashley to explore the hidden ways money trauma, scarcity, self-worth, and imposter syndrome can quietly shape the way entrepreneurs lead and grow. From sitting on proposals out of fear of charging too much to the invisible financial beliefs we inherit from childhood, Brittney reveals why some of our most important business decisions may be driven by stories we do not even realize we are carrying.
Brittney also shares her journey from toxic workplaces and personal loss to building Creative Dynamics Virtual Services, a business designed around the belief that work should support your life, not consume it. Together, Kelly and Brittney explore the psychology behind undercharging, the anxiety entrepreneurs can feel around money, the shift from selling hours to delivering outcomes, and why understanding your own money story may be one of the most important steps you can take as a business owner. This is an honest and deeply relatable conversation about the emotional side of entrepreneurship and the question every business owner should be asking: Is money trauma making your business decisions?

Key Takeaways:
Money trauma can quietly influence pricing, spending, saving, and major business decisions without you realizing it.
The money stories you inherit from childhood and family can continue shaping your behaviour as an entrepreneur.
Imposter syndrome often shows up as hesitation, undercharging, overthinking, and questioning whether you are truly worth your price.
Sometimes the best thing you can do for your business is create enough space to reflect instead of constantly reacting.
Undercharging is not always a pricing problem; it can be connected to people pleasing, self-worth, and fear of rejection.
You do not have to make massive changes overnight; small, consistent increases in confidence and pricing can compound over time.
Entrepreneurs need to shift their mindset from selling hours to delivering valuable outcomes and transformations.
Building a successful business requires working on yourself as much as working on your strategy, systems, and operations.
A business should be designed to support your life, not consume it or require you to be involved in every decision.
Growth begins when you become curious about your own patterns and ask what is really driving the decisions behind your business.

Get in Touch with Brittney Ashley
Connect with Brittney on LinkedIn
Listen to Breaking Norms, Building Dreams on SoundCloud
Visit Creative Dynamics Virtual Services

🎸 Sponsor Shoutouts: Thank You Colin Harms for your steadfast support of The Business Development Podcast! 🫶
The Business Development Podcast is proudly supported by Hypervac Technologies & Hyperfab, 🎸⭐
🔹 Hypervac Technologies: North America’s leader in vacuum truck manufacturing, building high performance hydrovac and industrial vacuum trucks designed for the toughest field conditions. www.hypervac.com
🔹 Hyperfab: The custom fabrication division of Hypervac, delivering engineered solutions and specialized builds tailored to demanding industrial applications. www.hyperfab.ca

Join The Catalyst Club Community
The Catalyst Club is so much more than a community. It is a growth platform for business development leaders, entrepreneurs, executives, and high-level professionals who want to sharpen their mindset, expand their leadership, and learn directly from people who have been there.
Members get immediate access to over 40+ recorded Catalyst Sessions from incredible experts like Nausheen Chen, Carmen Leibel, Pia Silva, Joel Zeff, Wayne Lee, and many more, along with weekly live sessions, growth conversations, and practical business development support from Kelly Kennedy and other leaders.
If you are serious about growth, leadership, business development, and surrounding yourself with people who are committed to becoming better, The Catalyst Club is where you need to be.
Learn more here: www.kellykennedyofficial.com/thecatalystclub

Need Business Development Coaching or Support? www.kellykennedyofficial.com
www.capitalbd.ca

In Episode 358 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy welcomes Mitch Jacobsen, Founder and CEO of Rviita Inc., back to the show for a powerful conversation about entrepreneurship, faith, and the resilience required to build something from nothing. Mitch shares his journey from petroleum engineer to beverage entrepreneur, risking his student line of credit, spending two years developing a product that initially finished dead last in a blind taste test, and ultimately growing Rviita Energy Tea into a nationally recognized Canadian brand.
Kelly and Mitch explore the realities behind the entrepreneurial highlight reel, the rollercoaster of building a company, and why perseverance may be more important than intelligence. From burnout and failure to scaling with strong core values and refusing to quit when the path forward feels impossible, this episode is an honest conversation about the years of work behind meaningful success and the faith required to begin before you know exactly how the story will end.

Key Takeaways:
Perseverance may be the most important skill an entrepreneur can develop.
You do not need to know every step before you start, you just need to take the first one.
Small actions repeated consistently can compound into extraordinary progress.
Failure only becomes final when you decide to quit.
Entrepreneurship is a long game, not a shortcut to overnight success.
The greatest reward of building a business is often the impact you have on others.
Constant one, two, and three percent improvements can completely transform a product over time.
Core values become increasingly important as a company grows and scales.
You will likely overestimate what you can accomplish in a year and underestimate what you can accomplish in a decade.
Faith may give you the courage to begin, but resilience is what keeps you moving when the journey gets hard.

Get in Touch with Mitch Jacobsen
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitch-jacobsen-p-eng-89277649/
Rviita Contact: https://rviitalize.com/pages/contact-us

🎸 Sponsor Shoutouts: Thank You Colin Harms for your steadfast support of The Business Development Podcast! 🫶
The Business Development Podcast is proudly supported by Hypervac Technologies & Hyperfab, 🎸⭐
🔹 Hypervac Technologies: North America’s leader in vacuum truck manufacturing, building high performance hydrovac and industrial vacuum trucks designed for the toughest field conditions. www.hypervac.com
🔹 Hyperfab: The custom fabrication division of Hypervac, delivering engineered solutions and specialized builds tailored to demanding industrial applications. www.hyperfab.ca

Join The Catalyst Club Community
The Catalyst Club is so much more than a community. It is a growth platform for business development leaders, entrepreneurs, executives, and high-level professionals who want to sharpen their mindset, expand their leadership, and learn directly from people who have been there.
Members get immediate access to over 40+ recorded Catalyst Sessions from incredible experts like Nausheen Chen, Carmen Leibel, Pia Silva, Joel Zeff, Wayne Lee, and many more, along with weekly live sessions, growth conversations, and practical business development support from Kelly Kennedy and other leaders.
If you are serious about growth, leadership, business development, and surrounding yourself with people who are committed to becoming better, The Catalyst Club is where you need to be.
Learn more here: www.kellykennedyofficial.com/thecatalystclub

Need Business Development Coaching or Support? www.kellykennedyofficial.com
www.capitalbd.ca
Mentioned in this episode:
Hypervac - Revolution Vacuums

Episode 357 of The Business Development Podcast features entrepreneur, executive advisor, international keynote speaker, and bestselling author Michèle Hecken. After building and successfully exiting a global company that eventually ran with only a handful of hours of her time each week, Michèle shares the mindset shifts that allowed her to stop being the center of her business. Together, Kelly and Michèle explore why so many founders unintentionally become the biggest bottleneck in their own organizations, how to redefine your role as your company grows, and why true leadership begins when you empower others to succeed without you.
The conversation also dives into entrepreneurship, work-life integration, AI, business development, marketing, and the growing importance of authentic human connection in an increasingly automated world. From the emotional story that changed the course of her life to practical strategies for solopreneurs and growing businesses, Michèle delivers actionable insights on creating systems, focusing on your highest-value work, and building a business that creates freedom instead of dependence. If you're an entrepreneur, executive, or business leader looking to scale your company without sacrificing your life, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

Key Takeaways:
Your business should serve your life, not the other way around.
As your company grows, your role as a founder must evolve with it.
The biggest bottleneck in your business is often the founder.
Every new service offering should strengthen your business, not dilute it.
Delegate the work others can do so you can focus on the work only you can do.
Great leaders intentionally make themselves less essential over time.
Don't chase every trend; adopt new tools only when they create real value.
Strong businesses are built on trust, relationships, and authentic human connection.
Clarity around your highest-value work is the foundation of sustainable growth.
Freedom isn't the reward for building a business; it should be part of the design from the beginning.

Connect with Michèle Hecken
🌐 Website: https://michelehecken.com
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelehecken/
📘 Latest Book: The Art of Offboarding: How to Transform Your Business to Run Without You
🎁 Exclusive Offer for Business Development Podcast Listeners:
https://api.leadconnectorhq.com/widget/bookings/exclusive/podcast/special/offer

🎸 Sponsor Shoutouts: Thank You Colin Harms for your steadfast support of The Business Development Podcast! 🫶
The Business Development Podcast is proudly supported by Hypervac Technologies & Hyperfab, 🎸⭐
🔹 Hypervac Technologies: North America’s leader in vacuum truck manufacturing, building high performance hydrovac and industrial vacuum trucks designed for the toughest field conditions. www.hypervac.com
🔹 Hyperfab: The custom fabrication division of Hypervac, delivering engineered solutions and specialized builds tailored to demanding industrial applications. www.hyperfab.ca

Join The Catalyst Club Community
The Catalyst Club is so much more than a community. It is a growth platform for business development leaders, entrepreneurs, executives, and high-level professionals who want to sharpen their mindset, expand their leadership, and learn directly from people who have been there.
Members get immediate access to over 40+ recorded Catalyst Sessions from incredible experts like Nausheen Chen, Carmen Leibel, Pia Silva, Joel Zeff, Wayne Lee, and many more, along with weekly live sessions, growth conversations, and practical business development support from Kelly Kennedy and other leaders.
If you are serious about growth, leadership, business development, and surrounding yourself with people who are committed to becoming better, The Catalyst Club is where you need to be.
Learn more here: www.kellykennedyofficial.com/thecatalystclub

Need Business Development Support? Book a Business Development Breakthrough Audit Here: www.kellykennedyofficial.com
Mentioned in this episode:
Hypervac - Revolution Vacuums

In episode 356 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with international keynote speaker, leadership expert, and Well by Design founder Steven Langer for a powerful conversation about the hidden cost of success. After years of leading schools, developing provincial wellness curriculum, and building high-performing teams, Steven found himself facing burnout, anxiety, panic attacks, and a life-changing warning from a doctor who told him he was on the path to a heart attack, stroke, or diabetes if nothing changed. Together, Kelly and Steven explore why so many ambitious leaders ignore the warning signs, why the mindset of "I've got this" can become dangerous, and how the very habits that drive success can quietly begin working against us.
Steven also introduces his refreshing alternative to the outdated pursuit of work-life balance: work-life coherence. Rather than chasing an impossible 50/50 split, he explains how leaders can build sustainable success by living and leading with greater intention, protecting time for deep work, recognizing the hidden cost of constant pressure, and creating space for genuine restoration. From transforming a struggling school by reducing suspensions from more than 300 days to just 10, to launching a business dedicated to healthier leadership, Steven shares practical strategies that will help entrepreneurs, leaders, and high performers build lasting success without sacrificing the very things that matter most.

Key Takeaways:
The mindset of “I’ve got this” can become dangerous when it causes you to ignore warning signs.
Burnout is not always caused by workload. It can also come from misalignment, lack of autonomy, cognitive overload, and poor support.
The habits that help you succeed can eventually become the same habits that hurt you.
Work-life balance is not always realistic. Steven’s better model is work-life coherence.
Rest is not laziness. It is a requirement for performance, decision-making, and long-term sustainability.
Leaders cannot take care of their teams if they are running themselves into the ground.
If your work and personal life keep creating tension, that is a warning sign, not something to ignore.
Deep work requires protected time. An “always open door” can destroy focus and make important work harder.
Healthy leadership requires intention. Without it, your day happens to you by default.
Sustainable success means building room for real life before the unexpected happens.

Get in touch with Steven Langer:
www.wellbydesign.ca
Buy The Coherence Compass:
https://wellbydesign.ca/coherence-compass-book/
Connect with Steven on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-langer-b9b64945/

🎸 Sponsor Shoutouts: Thank You Colin Harms for your steadfast support of The Business Development Podcast! 🫶
The Business Development Podcast is proudly supported by Hypervac Technologies & Hyperfab, 🎸⭐
🔹 Hypervac Technologies: North America’s leader in vacuum truck manufacturing, building high performance hydrovac and industrial vacuum trucks designed for the toughest field conditions. www.hypervac.com
🔹 Hyperfab: The custom fabrication division of Hypervac, delivering engineered solutions and specialized builds tailored to demanding industrial applications. www.hyperfab.ca

Join The Catalyst Club Community
The Catalyst Club is so much more than a community. It is a growth platform for business development leaders, entrepreneurs, executives, and high-level professionals who want to sharpen their mindset, expand their leadership, and learn directly from people who have been there.
Members get immediate access to over 40+ recorded Catalyst Sessions from incredible experts like Nausheen Chen, Carmen Leibel, Pia Silva, Joel Zeff, Wayne Lee, and many more, along with weekly live sessions, growth conversations, and practical business development support from Kelly Kennedy and other leaders.
If you are serious about growth, leadership, business development, and surrounding yourself with people who are committed to becoming better, The Catalyst Club is where you need to be.
Learn more here: www.kellykennedyofficial.com/thecatalystclub

Need Business Development Support? Book a Business Development Breakthrough Audit Here: www.kellykennedyofficial.com
Mentioned in this episode:
Hypervac - Revolution Vacuums

What does real confidence look like when life refuses to slow down? In Episode 355 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy welcomes back Founder of Let Me Introduce Yourself and Confidence Coach Alyssa McMasters for a powerful conversation about confidence, emotional neutrality, resilience, entrepreneurship, sales, leadership, and the realities of balancing a high-performing career with parenthood. Alyssa shares her own journey through burnout, imposter syndrome, motherhood, and rebuilding her career, revealing how learning to embrace emotional neutrality transformed not only the way she leads, but the way she makes decisions, sets boundaries, and shows up in every aspect of her life.
Together, Kelly and Alyssa explore why so many high performers tie their self-worth to outcomes, how to navigate guilt, embarrassment, rejection, and uncertainty without allowing them to dictate your decisions, and practical strategies for regulating your nervous system, building resilience, and creating confidence that isn't dependent on the next win. Whether you're an entrepreneur, sales professional, leader, parent, or simply someone striving to become more grounded in an increasingly demanding world, this episode offers an honest and actionable roadmap for leading yourself with greater clarity, confidence, and purpose.

Key Takeaways:
Confidence is built by learning to keep moving when life feels uncertain.
Emotional neutrality allows you to feel guilt, fear, or embarrassment without letting those emotions control your decisions.
High performers often struggle because they tie their self-worth to wins, losses, clients, and outcomes.
Boundaries are not selfish, they are how you protect your capacity and show up honestly.
Saying no still might feel uncomfortable, but discomfort does not mean the decision is wrong.
You cannot do everything well at once, so honesty about capacity is essential.
Detaching from the outcome is critical in sales, entrepreneurship, parenting, and leadership.
Real resilience is the ability to return to neutral faster after setbacks.
Nervous system regulation helps you make better decisions instead of reacting from emotional highs or lows.
Confidence is not about pretending everything is fine, it is about building the skills to keep showing up.

Connect with Alyssa McMasters
To learn more about Alyssa McMasters, Founder of Let Me Introduce Yourself, or to connect with her for confidence coaching, speaking, workshops, and leadership development, visit the links below.
🌐 Website: https://www.letmeintroduceyourself.com/
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alyssamcmasters/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alyssasmcmasters/

🎸 Sponsor Shoutouts: Thank You Colin Harms for your steadfast support of The Business Development Podcast! 🫶
The Business Development Podcast is proudly supported by Hypervac Technologies & Hyperfab, 🎸⭐
🔹 Hypervac Technologies: North America’s leader in vacuum truck manufacturing, building high performance hydrovac and industrial vacuum trucks designed for the toughest field conditions. www.hypervac.com
🔹 Hyperfab: The custom fabrication division of Hypervac, delivering engineered solutions and specialized builds tailored to demanding industrial applications. www.hyperfab.ca

Join The Catalyst Club Community
The Catalyst Club is so much more than a community. It is a growth platform for business development leaders, entrepreneurs, executives, and high-level professionals who want to sharpen their mindset, expand their leadership, and learn directly from people who have been there.
Members get immediate access to over 40+ recorded Catalyst Sessions from incredible experts like Nausheen Chen, Carmen Leibel, Pia Silva, Joel Zeff, Wayne Lee, and many more, along with weekly live sessions, growth conversations, and practical business development support from Kelly Kennedy and other leaders.
If you are serious about growth, leadership, business development, and surrounding yourself with people who are committed to becoming better, The Catalyst Club is where you need to be.
Learn more here: www.kellykennedyofficial.com/thecatalystclub

Need Business Development Support? Book a Business Development Breakthrough Audit Here: www.kellykennedyofficial.com
Mentioned in this episode:
Hypervac - Revolution Vacuums