From Explorer to Entrepreneur: Ron Hadley on Building a Mission-Driven Business

In this episode of Success Leaves Clues Podcast, Pedro sits down with Ron Hadley, Founder and CEO of Where Are You Going, to explore what it takes to build a purpose-driven business that creates lasting impact.

Ron shares his journey from executive leadership in mission-focused organizations to launching his own coaching and growth company. Together, they discuss the importance of knowing your "why," building a business around your values, finding your unique differentiator in the marketplace, and developing the resilience needed to navigate the highs and lows of entrepreneurship.

Whether you're a coach, consultant, business owner, or aspiring leader, this conversation is packed with practical insights on leadership development, personal growth, mission-driven entrepreneurship, and creating meaningful success that extends beyond profit.



Connect with

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-hadley-1a2b47b5
Website: https://reachforyourbest.com/

Transcript

Ron Hadley 0:00

Number one, Ron, know your why. I mean, be able to identify and be confident in why you are doing this. Because that that's that's gonna be my anchor, that's gonna be my guardrail moving forward. That that's gonna fuel me and drive me forward. If I can't tell you my true, passionate why, there's something missing. Number two, Ron, know what differentiates what you're proposing to do from what other people are doing. There's got to be that identified value add in the marketplace. If you can't identify what differentiates you, if you can't identify the value add, Ron, you know, you're gonna you're gonna have a hard time convincing other people that your your why that's driving you forward is worth their time. And then the third thing I would, and in my mind, these are all interconnected. There's a there's a through line here, how to get started and how to succeed and how to persist. And that's that last point. Be resilient, be persistent. And even if it sounds contradictory, it's not. Be nimble. Be resilient, be persistent, and be nimble. You gotta dig deep and keep moving forward because there's gonna be some amazingly high, great days, and there's gonna be some fairly static days, and there's gonna be a few down days. You've got to be resilient in all of that. You've got to be persistent to keep moving forward, but don't do it in a way that you can't adjust and modify. Be be nimble.

Davis Nguyen 1:14

Welcome to Success Leaves Clues, the podcast where we interview business owners on how they built their businesses and the hard lessons they learned along the way. My name is David Swin, and I'm a business coach and a founder of Purple Circle, where we help business owners achieve their first six-figure, seven-figure, and eight-figure year, all without sacrificing their quality of life. Before becoming a business coach and before founding Purple Circle, I started and scaled several seven and eight-figure coaching businesses and have been a consultant at several businesses doing over $100 million each, including some that are publicly listed and doing over a billion dollars each. In every episode of the podcast, you're gonna learn lessons that took our guests years to learn, and you'll be able to learn that in minutes. No matter if you're a new business owner or an established business owner, every episode is gonna give you the clues in order to elevate your business.

Pedro 1:58

Welcome to Success Leaves Clues Podcast. I'm Pedro, and today I'm joined by Ron Hadley, founder and CEO of Where Are You Going, a global growth company whose 25-year career spanning all 50 states and six continents has reached millions of professionals, volunteers, families, and students with meaningful, purpose-filled growth. Ron has partnered with some of the most recognized social impact brands in the world, including Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Save the Children, Rise Against Hunger, and most recently the Uvali CISD Moving Forward Foundation. Ron's academic foundation spans Chicago land roots as a third-generation university graduate to postgraduate work at multiple institutions, plus additional training from Franklin Covey and the Dale Carnegie Institute, giving him both the theoretical grounding and practical tools to help mission-driven leaders dream out loud and grow with purpose. Welcome to the show, Ron. Thank you, Pedro. Been looking forward to beginning with you. Dude, I'm excited. I'll put it simple like that, you know, and I'm a comic book nerd. Okay. I love the first edition. Okay, the origin story. So let's rewind a bit, Ron, because every coach has that moment when they look at their life and say, Yeah, I guess this is what I'm doing now, right? So when was that for you, Ron?

Ron Hadley 3:25

Yeah. Well, actually, the bio you read probably set that up pretty well. Uh, I I've had a 20-year career in executive leadership, social impact organizations primarily, and have always been fortunate to be a part of a company, an organization, a team that is forward-looking and always wanting to do more and expand their business model, expand their impact. And after about 20 years of uh three different organizations that were in that growth mode, I had been feeling a stirring within my own being that I want to kind of spread my wings. I want to go out and help more organizations. I want to help more leaders grow in their own vision and not be restricted to, you know, the four walls of one company or to one brand, but create my own brand and just identify those leaders that have a vision to grow, to do more, to become all that they envision being, and helping them to get there from A to B. I'll even go back a little bit further, if I may, real quick, because it was a few years back that uh my dad said to me, you know, I always knew you would be an explorer. And that was the first time he'd made a comment to me like that. There's a there's a story in my family of I was three or four years old, and uh my my my grandmother lived about a mile away from our house. And at that age of three or four, I decided upon myself to walk to her house. My family didn't know. I was out in the backyard and I walked to her house. And dad referenced that moment that he said, even in that family story, I knew you were going to be an explorer. And that's just kind of played out in my life where I want to not only find my own new and improved path in life, but help others. So there was a solid foundation from my career to my personal upbringing and uh helping other people grow in that vision. Oh my God. You're gonna get you're gonna get me emotional here, buddy. Take it easy.

Pedro 5:30

That was a pretty cool story from your dad pinpointing that exact moment. Oh my God, that is so cool, man. Now, you know, 12 years ago, you created Where Are You Going, right? And uh there's a shift that happens, okay? A shift from usually in the coaching space, from I'm helping people, I'm testing waters even, right? Giving some advice to, you know what, I'm building a real business around this. You know, it's almost like an identity shift. So, how did that look like for you when you you had to take that leap? Yeah, great question.

Ron Hadley 5:59

Um, I still remember, of course, those set of decisions and and and questions that I had, but probably more than anything, I remember the emotions that it stirred within me. It's kind of frightening. But we all have a unique journey, right? And and the you part of the uniqueness of my journey is I I believe I was set up pretty well in that I had a 20-year career. I'd had the stirring in my own spirit about taking this step out. And I took nearly a year before I finally made that decision. Uh, I had I had the security of that full-time executive job. I would share my vision with close confidants about here's what I'm thinking about doing. What do you think? Is this something? Am I crazy? Does this make sense? Could this work? And the most common response I got from people who knew me well and knew my work and knew my character said, number one, Ron, yes, you can and yes, you should. And number two, if you do, call me. I've got a project for you. I want to employ you. I want to contract with you. So after a year of just kind of, you know, exploring that opportunity and that vision, that drive, that passion I had in my own spirit, I had a degree of confidence that I could make that step out. And that was 12 years ago, like you said. And even since then, the vast majority, 90% or more of the work that we have helping organizations grow or coaching leaders in their own growth, have come from our network, has come from the network that we have established throughout our career work. They come from organizations that were contracting on their growth strategies. And then we coach their executive leaders, their middle managers, and even their identified emerging uh leaders. So to take that step out, uh, you know, I I I kind of searched myself of is this right? Is this a good move? Uh, how do I make it work? And I got feedback from confidants. And when I finally uh made that step out, here I am 12 years later, just loving what we're doing.

Pedro 8:02

Okay, that's pretty cool. Okay. Now, after you got rolling, you're right, right? Because in the in the early days of coaching, like you established your business 12 years ago, and sometimes there are we're trial and errors. We're trying to sometimes, no, saying it's your case, because I'm a coach too. We're like trying to help everyone, testing waters, see how what lands, who am I serving, you know, and all of that at the early days. So there's an evolution sometimes to that. So who did you start serving? And when did you realize, okay, this is my tribe? You know, I want to serve these people. Who are they? Can you be more specific about it?

Ron Hadley 8:36

Yeah, great question. And you know, there's a lot of ways to come at that question and a lot of ways to define your tribe. I I I I think for us, and by us, it's the team of of coaches that that I've pulled together and uh I've pulled them together because we share values, because we're like-minded in what we want to achieve. Uh, so I feel like I can represent the team in that regard. And and we we greatly focus on our tribe being mission-minded. So it's very important to us to work with leaders and organizations who aren't simply driven by the profit motive. Nothing wrong with that. That's not my point at all. You ask about a tribe. So, you know, it's where we find our focus and our passion and our greatest connectivity. Um, we want organizations and companies and leaders who are mission-driven. They want to do more than just build their bank account and line their pockets. They want to leave a fingerprint behind of good work, of making a positive impact on the world around us and on the people around us. So that's number one, part of our tribe. They've got to be mission-driven. Number two, and maybe number two of two, as far as a big broad brushstroke for our tribe, it's got to be be people who want to grow. And that really kind of gets into the coachability, if you will. There's a lot packed into that term coachability, but there's got to be a degree of self-awareness and humility and a growth mindset. There are things that we more and more look for. Because to your point, earlier on, when we might have helped coach most any leader who asked for it, or any leader that an organization asked us to help, you know, a developing employee, and we would do it, but we we were disconnected on that mission-mindedness. Or there wasn't a real good foundation on the coachability, whether or not they were willing to learn, whether or not they had the humility to say, I've got something to learn, whether or not they had a growth mindset. So over time, we've been able to really narrow that down and have a better filter on are they mission-minded? Are they driven by something more than building a bank account? And are they coachable? There's our tribe.

Pedro 10:55

So I have a question for you, Ron, the Explorer, at four years old, right? Why mission-driven, man?

Ron Hadley 11:04

Wow, another great question. You know, I I have to start with me, quite frankly. I've also recognized early on in my adult life that I've been very fortunate, very blessed to be a part of organizations that are mission-minded. My my first 10 years were with student development in higher education, university work, and then 10 years with big brothers, big sisters, youth development mentoring, and then an education organization. So it's always been pouring back into other people. And uh, you know, moments in their life when they are open to or just life circumstances dictate a need to grow, a need to get somewhere different than where they are. My whole career's been that way. And somehow I consider it a blessing, but I've been able to gravitate toward that kind of organization and team from early on in my career. And it's just played out. That's my heartbeat, that's my why, that's my passion. And so when I mentioned a moment ago, the team that I've built, we we share values and we have a like-mindedness. That like-mindedness and those values are around this passion and drive, uh, authentically help other people get from their A today, wherever they are, their A to their new B. And that's that's encapsulated in a mission-driven context. So you gotta want to do more to impact the world around you. And that's just a drive within myself. I've been able to pour my career into that work, and then when I launched my company, I've been able to shape the company and the team around that same focus.

Pedro 12:42

It sounds like you're inspired just in your entire career and helping others on getting a real sense of purpose to move forward. I like that. Now, I want to do a quick exercise, okay? I want to pretend yeah, I'm your ideal client profile. I am a mission-minded guy and I want to grow my business. Okay. So, first of all, how would I be able to find you in the first place, marketing-wise, and your business?

Ron Hadley 13:08

Yeah, I mean, you're teeing me up for a great promotion of ourselves right there, right? Here's how you find us. Go to our website. But I want to, I want to I want to answer that maybe a little differently because we we do have a website and and I'm gonna share that out, obviously, in our conversation. But actually, Pedro, that's part of our challenge, or at least one of the challenges we want to look at and hold ourselves accountable to. Because I mentioned earlier, from the outset of our work, we've been able to pull the the volume of work that we're looking for and that that that sustains us and grows us from our current network. We have not put a lot of effort in. There's have been a few false starts, a few tries that we failed at uh to do that broader marketing and you know, whatever that is, digital marketing. But our our folks that have found us have come from our inner network or from referrals. So that's number one. How how do they find us? It's from our our network and our referrals. But we want to figure out, and we haven't figured out, we haven't cracked that nut per se, on how to have effective marketing out there in the marketplace to hook people into here's who we are, here's what we do, here's how we are differentiated, and here's why you would want to contact us and uh and and learn more. But if they did choose to contact us, it is vwreachforyourbest.com. Pretty simple, and it speaks to who we are. We just haven't figured out, and we haven't put a lot of time and resources into it too. I do want to I I want to make that point, but we have had a couple attempts to we we brought on a business development leader and and and and she did some great work, but we still just didn't get that, you know, that broad awareness and and intake. So we still got to figure that out. That's a business challenge for us and and one that we want to move towards figuring out. Okay.

Pedro 15:02

Sounds good. Now, I'm still that guy, okay? I'm still the ICP. Let's say I visited your website or was referred to you even, you know, and worked with your business. And I'm like, you know what? Ron and those guys, they seem cool. Okay. So there's alignment. I'm like, this sounds cool. I reach out, okay? I I went through the sales process, and let's say I am coachable, okay? Okay. My wife could, you know, digress, but let's say I am coachable and I'm a cool guy, and there's alignment. We close, you're gonna help me. Okay, I can sense you guys can help me, and you're going to help me. So, can you walk me through how does it look like to work with your business and the potential outcomes I can expect out of it?

Ron Hadley 15:42

Yeah. We set those up pretty early in our business, and then it's really led us well to this point. We've got two basic packages, if you will, a three-month package and then a six-month. And then after that, it is renewable on various increments of time. So we talk about what are you looking for? Are you looking for kind of a three-month, and we'll talk about they're all one-on-one. We don't do group coaching, it's all one-on-one coaching. We have our model is how we've built it out. It's called AMP Leadership, AMP, and it stands for aptitudes, mindset, and people. Kind of three broad categories of what we would label optimal effective leadership style, at least, you know, coming in from our values. So within that AMP framework, aptitudes, mindsets, people, there are 13 competencies that we've identified. And in that one-on-one training session that we would line up with each leader that we're that we're coaching, we would move through those skill sets, you know, really focusing in on areas that have been identified as potential needed growth. And part of that is identified by a 360 assessment that we do can conduct. So we would do a self-assessment that each incoming leader being coached would complete. And then if they're coming in from an organization or a team, we would ask for a few peer-level colleagues that we would also do a survey around to identify some areas of needed coaching, leadership growth. So between that assessment process and the 13 competencies in our AMP leadership, we develop a framework for those one-on-one coachings over a three or six month period. At the end of it, what we commit to and what ideally the coached leader will find will be progress, growth in those competencies or in a subset of those competencies that were identified. We're going to do some measurement with the organization or the team to identify are there stronger relationships among team members? That's going to be that's going to be a pre and post part of the coaching as far as surveying goes. Greater relationships among the team members, increased productivity among the team, promotability, a bench strength built within the organization. There's a set of about half a dozen outcomes that the leaders can expect after going through those one-on-one sessions from the 13 competencies to actual application in the workplace, in the organization among the team.

Pedro 18:20

Okay. Let me ask you this structure-wise. You mentioned one-on-ones. Are there group settings? Are there online components? Just I'm just curious about that.

Ron Hadley 18:28

How do you structure we don't at this point do any kind of a group setting? It's all one-on-one. So we've got a team of eight coaches that are accessible to take on a client, take on a leader relationship, and it's all done one-on-one. That's another interesting question because we've talked as a team. Do we find a way to connect our the leaders that we're coaching? You know, sometimes we'll have multiple leaders within an organization. Like I think I mentioned earlier, uh, you know, many of our leaders we're coaching are coming from organizations that we're contracting on a broader uh strategic growth contract for the company. So they'll want, they'll say, Hey, can you provide coaching for this group of leaders? Even then, it's all done one-on-one. You know, they may connect on their own about how's the coaching going for you and what are they learning? But we've never proactively um brought those groups together within an organization or even outside an organization of, you know, uh whatever that would look like, almost like an alumni association, perhaps sometimes of you know, pulling back in everybody who's been a part of our AMP leadership, connecting them. We've not done that. And so it's not part of the model at this point.

Pedro 19:41

No, it's all good. Now, I have a question for you because it sounds like you're very purpose-driven, right? The way it's about impact and you're looking for people that want to do the same. And one thing I see a lot of coaches struggling out there is pricing, okay? And I'm not talking about hard numbers, but sometimes for your own path and your own self-like in the coaching space, that it's a very self-worth path, right? Sometimes we're charging, we're not charging enough or we're charging too much, we think we're putting ourselves out of the market. And for your case specifically, we're talking about impact. And that's a hard balance, at least for me sometimes as a coach, to I want to impact people, I want to help people and all that, but there it needs to have a level of commitment from their side. And that's where the money comes in, right? So, were there any lessons along the way since you're 12 years in this game that shaped how you landed where you are, specifically about pricing?

Ron Hadley 20:36

Yes, and I would say it's it's the balance that I I kind of hear you already speaking to. Uh, you you've got to identify a baseline, and you and and to a great degree, you've got to commit to it, not be embarrassed by it, not be ashamed of it, because you're providing a value. Bottom line, period. If you if you've got a good product and you believe in it, you're providing a value to whoever it is that you are coaching in this case. So you you've you've got to internalize that and use that as a point of confidence to stick to the price point that you have chosen. Because and but you got you have to justify the ROI, right? Uh from the coaching. Um and then you've got to deliver. So it's not just pull out a number and and and expect people to pay it, but but do have a baseline and be confident in it. Know that you bring value that is commiserate with that price point, and then make sure you're delivering it. Number one. Number two, to the other part that I I heard in your your your question is essentially flexibility. So you you want to have that price point you believe in and you're confident in, but there might be times where for whatever set of legitimate circumstances that you've you've landed on, where you might provide a discount. You know, we provide discounts for on an organizational. Level, if they have more than one leader, actually it's more than three leaders, if they have three or more leaders that they want part of a coaching package, still all one-on-one, but there are three that they're bringing to the table or more, then we discount the the price, the the per per person price, right? If it's an existing, which in many cases it is for us, if it's an existing organizational contract partner that they they bring to us, we'd like you to coach a particular leader, we will discount the price because it's part of a larger relationship with the organization. So there are ways to even structure that and and make it maybe a more palatable. But uh bottom line is if you're providing value add and and you believe you are and you can you can uh explain it and deliver upon it, then be confident in your price. Okay.

Pedro 22:51

Now I want to shift gears for a second, okay? Let's talk about future if you don't mind. So I and I'm a dad, okay. So I'm I'm waiting for this pun for a little while. Okay, a dad joke. You you kind of see it coming already because we're gonna talk about future, right? So Ron, where are you going, Ron? What's next? I love that, Pedro.

Ron Hadley 23:12

Thank you. Seldom does a week go by, probably seldom does a day go by where uh one of my partners or even just you know colleagues or friends will work in that phrase, where are you going into a conversation? Uh, which to me, number one, I love because it is my heartbeat. So if other people pick that up and pull it into their vernacular, I feel pretty good about it. But number two, I love that people associate that with me because uh that is a big drive in my life, is just being forward-looking. And it all starts with asking that question, where are you going? For us, you know, there's a lot of ways to measure that, of course. You know, what does growth look like? What does success look like? I think the way I want to answer it today with you, we want to figure out number one, that marketing challenge. We do want to get our work, our impact, what we believe brings great value to leaders and to the world. We want to get that out there in the marketplace better and and extend our reach beyond um our our our our our large but still limited network of professional context, right? Organizational and individual. That's where most of our work comes from right now. We want to we want to figure that out. So that's really brand awareness and and then outcomes from our our brand. How do we how do we do that in a much uh broader uh marketing campaign effectively? Number one. Number two, and this one gets me more excited. I see great value in that first one, the market marketing and marketability effectively. But fortunately, I've got a couple team at members who are really driven by that. So I'm gonna ask them to figure that out. The other thing that we that we're looking at, and this is really gets me excited and may even get to a point where I pull back a little bit on some of the growth contract work that I lead myself and even the coaching I lead because we want to get into original content generation. So, you know, how do we take our growth principles, our growth approach, and push it out in some kind of content? I need help doing that too, because I'm I'm not tech savvy digit. I'm not, you won't find me on any social media platform unless you count LinkedIn. But pushing out original content and then pushing it out. Well, you know, what is that? It is it the the TikTok videos, is it the the substack videos? Is it a YouTube video? Is it a podcast? Is it a published book? Is it more trainings that we do with you know modular training sessions? There's so many ways that we we want to figure out how to generate our original content in ways that can be effective. And then how do you push that out? So we're not just a contract team to help organizations grow from A to B or a leadership coaching organization helping leaders grow from A to B, but getting content out there that people are engaging with and learning from and growing from that publication, that posted video, the whatever. We got to figure that out too.

Pedro 26:17

Okay. Exciting, exciting news. You know, I I'm I'm getting excited just by hearing you. There's so much potential out there, you know. Um, and I do have one last question for you, Ron. Let's pretend, and I already established I'm a comic book nerd, right? So let's pretend we had a time machine in front of you, okay? You can step in and you can go back 12 years in time, and you can give yourself one piece of advice for the Ron that was starting the where are you going business, right? So, what would that be? Love that question.

Ron Hadley 26:48

And I'll make it a short three-point answer. Number one, Ron, know your why. I mean, be able to identify and be confident in why you are doing this. Because that that's that's gonna be my anchor, that's gonna be my guardrail moving forward. That that's gonna fuel me and drive me forward. If I can't tell you my true, passionate why, there's something missing. Number two, Ron, know what differentiates what you're proposing to do from what other people are doing. There's got to be that identified value add in the marketplace. If you can't identify what differentiates you, if you can't identify the value add, Ron, you know, you're gonna you're gonna have a hard time convincing other people that your your why that's driving you forward is worth their time. Uh, and then the third thing I would and in my mind, these are all interconnected. There's a there's a through line here. Uh, how to get started and how to succeed and how to persist. And that's that last point. Ron, be resilient, be persistent. And even if it sounds contradictory, it's not. Be nimble. Be resilient, be persistent, and be nimble. You gotta dig deep and keep moving forward because there's gonna be some amazingly high, great days, and there's gonna be some fairly static days, and there's gonna be a few down days. You've got to be resilient in all of that. You've got to be persistent to keep moving forward, but don't do it in a way that you can't adjust and modify. Be, be be nimble. So one, two, three, Ron. Know your why, know what differentiates you, and be resilient, persistent, and nimble. And go get it.

Pedro 28:31

I love that, man. I love the nimble part. It's like don't react, you know, accept the fact that stuff is not gonna go your way always, right? It's just like take a deep breath, move forward. Okay. Now, Ron, if someone listening wants to connect with you or follow your work, okay? And we're gonna have all the links in the description, but where's where's the best people to find you and your business and connect with you?

Ron Hadley 28:55

Yeah, by far easiest, our website, www.reachforyourbest.com. All one word, reachforyourbest.com. And we have that structured in a way that it says leaders start here, organizations start here. So whether it is an individual looking to grow in their leadership skills or a team or an organization looking to grow in their strategic impact, uh, that's the starting point. And it'll get you all through our where are you going opportunities for engagement.

Pedro 29:29

Okay. There were a few things you shared today. Ron, really stay with me. I'm gonna highlight them real quick, okay? First of all, when we're talking about your origin story and you your dad told you that he always knew you'd be an explorer, and then at the end, you're like, No, you're why. So, yes, Ron, explore, but for a reason, get that dialed in, which you you kind of eventually did, but it's always good to have that clarity on what's the next move, right? So that is pretty cool to watch. When we were talking about, you know, the the the why, why mission minded, you know, when I asked you, and you're like, it's my heartbeat. You know, it's something that is so intrinsic to me, it's part of who I am. I I really like watching that, you know. So kudos to you. That's inspirational. I'll put it simply like that, too. Now, the last but not least part is the pricing bit, honestly, and the reason for when we were talking, and you mentioned, oh yeah, sometimes I make it work through a discount if there's more than uh a leader and I work, I need to work with it within a company and all that, and that really hits home, you know. I'm a career coach for devs, uh tech side slash tech side, and uh from Brazil that want to land the job in the US market. And uh one of the things that happens to me is that I was talking with people that were laid off, you know, and nine out of ten, they don't have the money, you know. It's it kind of sad for me to have to filter that out in a way. So I feel weird inside when I have to do that. So that's also my job on how can I help them? So eventually develop a resource, not just reject people, but help them get to somewhere because at the end of the day, it's let's be of service, let's impact people, you know. I was laid off. I would love to help have to have someone, even if I didn't have the money at the time, to tell me, hey, I cannot help you in this type of model, but maybe this person can, or maybe you can do X, Y, and Z, and that could put you in a right path, at least, you know. So, Ron, this is just my long-winded way of saying that. I appreciate what you do, man. I appreciate you being here and sharing it so openly today, okay? It was great having you on.

Ron Hadley 31:37

Well, same back to you, Pedro. This has been a great enjoyment for me to be a part of this, but also just to get to know you and connect with you. You're doing amazing work. Thank you for including me today. Appreciate you, man.

Davis Nguyen 31:48

That's it for this episode. This episode, as well as this podcast, was brought to you by Purple Circle, where we help business owners elevate their business to six, seven, and eight figure years, all without burning out. If you're looking to grow your business as well as get the time freedom that you are looking for, visit us at join purplecircle.com and see what we can do to help you end your business.