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Last week in CONNECTION LAB: The Build Room, a conversation about networking unexpectedly turned into a deeper discussion about how businesses actually grow. At first glance, we talked about customer discovery, networking, founder communities, and startup ecosystems. But underneath all of it was a single theme: Growth happens when you get closer to reality. Not when you spend more time planning. Not when you attend more webinars. Not when you redesign your website for the thi

A case study in owner-led growth, clearer decisions, and building a business that can keep moving. When Leigh Walden and I started working together in April 2023, fun abounds was not a struggling business. Quite the opposite. Leigh had already built a strong, profitable company with a respected name in the commercial playground industry. fun abounds was known across Southern Texas for turnkey playgrounds and shade structures that helped communities create spaces filled with f

That was the real thread underneath this week’s The Build Room conversation. Not productivity. Not systems. Not hiring. Trust. Because eventually every leader runs into the same wall: The organization can only grow as far as its willingness to let other people into it. And that sounds simple in theory. Until you realize how much identity gets tied up in being the person who: solves the problem catches the mistake answers the question makes the decision saves the client keeps

Growth is supposed to feel like momentum. But for a lot of business owners and leadership teams, growth eventually starts feeling… heavier. What used to work suddenly doesn’t: communication gets messy priorities constantly shift decisions pile up the team depends on leadership for too much and the business starts creating more stress instead of more freedom At first, most leaders assume they just need: better time management stronger employees more productivity another tool a

That was the thread that kept surfacing in this week’s Build Room. Not because everyone had the same business. Not because everyone had the same challenge. But because almost every conversation circled back to the same underlying issue: Too many priorities competing for attention at the same time. One entrepreneur was trying to regain focus after months of client delivery work. Another was juggling multiple initiatives and struggling to make meaningful progress across all of

Thinkubator Media achieved significant growth by restructuring their program delivery model, optimizing sales outreach, and implementing NPS survey campaigns. As a result, Thinkubator Media saw a 27% increase in revenue, a shift towards a stronger CEO role for the owner, and secured a five-figure retainer with a notable university in Boston. The Challenge In 2023, Lori, the owner of Thinkubator Media, approached me as she was struggling to navigate the critical third year of

A note before we begin: I joined NPR Digital Services in January 2012 and was promoted to Managing Director in January 2016. I was the MD who closed it down. I have a direct stake in how this story gets told—and a responsibility to tell it honestly. What follows is my attempt to do that. NPR Digital Services did not fail because the people running it weren’t capable. It failed because the system it was trying to serve didn’t trust it. And public media is about to try ag

Why do entrepreneurs feel busy but not make progress? Because they’re trying to move too many things forward at once. When everything gets a little attention, nothing actually gets completed. And without completion, there’s no real momentum. That’s the pattern I saw clearly in the first session of The Build Room. Different Businesses. Same Trap. This week, I hosted the first Build Room session. Five entrepreneurs showed up with completely different businesses: One was coming

Incremental shifts can deliver outsized returns. In 2025, I helped The Boston Naturals grow revenue 42% year over year. Yes, they rock. Literally. But the results weren’t luck. They came from a shift in strategy. It started on a Sunday morning. Post-COVID, live events were back. Demand was high. The band did what most do: They filled the calendar. Close to 100 gigs. And they were exhausted. I remember sitting there, coffee in hand, half-watching the news while my husband reca

There’s a piece of startup advice that sounds right—and helps almost no one: “Play to your strengths.” Fine. Do that. But it leaves out the part that actually determines whether your business works: The way you naturally operate as a CEO is often the exact place your business starts to strain. Not randomly.Predictably. Your strength is doing double duty The CEO who generates ideas, rallies people, and moves fast? They often struggle to finish anything long enough to learn fro

Most business owners don’t have a growth problem. They have a consistency problem. One good month. One slow month. One push that works… followed by a scramble to figure out what just happened. That’s not a strategy. That’s guessing. The shift: from effort → system I’ve seen this over and over. The moment a business installs the right management system, everything changes: decisions get clearer priorities stop shifting every five minutes teams know what they’re responsible for

Let’s stop pretending burnout is about “working too much.” It’s not. It’s about trying to do too much, too fast, with not enough clarity—or resources—to support it. You can’t keep shoving 10 lbs of work into a 5 lb bag and expect your team—or yourself—to keep up. And if you don’t know what the most important 5 lbs are? You’re not just busy. You’re slowly driving everyone to burnout. This shows up the same way everywhere Corporate. Small business. Startup. Doesn’t matter. Too

Customer retention isn’t just a “nice to have.” It’s the difference between a business that’s constantly chasing new leads…and one that actually compounds. Most businesses focus all their energy on acquisition. But if your customers aren’t coming back, you don’t have a growth problem. You have a systems problem. Here are three habits that fix that—and yes, these should be automated wherever possible. 1. Automate the 3 R’s: Reviews, Referrals, and Renewals The end of a custome

If you’ve gone down the business agility rabbit hole, you’ve probably come across SAFe. And if you’re like most entrepreneurs, your first reaction was probably: “Do I need all of this?” Fair question. SAFe is a framework for big, complex organizations SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) is designed to help large organizations coordinate work across multiple teams. Think: lots of departments multiple products layers of leadership high complexity It gives those organizations structur

If someone asked you to describe business agility in one sentence, you could say: Business agility is the ability to adjust your business—quickly and effectively—without everything breaking or depending on you. That’s it. Not a framework.Not a buzzword.Not a certification. A capability. It’s not about being fast. It’s about being able to move Speed alone doesn’t help if: you’re moving in the wrong direction your team is confused or everything still needs your approval Plenty

When people hear “business agility,” they usually go straight to frameworks, certifications, and someone else’s model. That’s not where this starts. Because if your business can’t move, it’s not because you picked the wrong framework. It’s because a few core capabilities aren’t in place yet. So instead of memorizing someone else’s list, here’s what actually matters. 1. Leadership that enables movement (not control) Let’s start here, because everything flows from it. If you’re

If you’ve been around business long enough, you’ve probably heard the term “business agility” thrown around like it’s some kind of magic fix. It’s not. And it’s definitely not just about Agile, Scrum, or what your product team is doing. So let’s be clear about what we actually mean. Business agility is the ability to adjust—without everything breaking Not just react. Not just pivot. Actually adjust your business—how decisions get made, how work flows, how your team operates—w