Escape the CEO Doom Loop
Escape the CEO Doom Loop is built for CEOs and leadership teams ready to grow. Each episode delivers practical insights, real-world stories, and tools you can use today to lead with clarity and scale with confidence. We spotlight what’s working—and what’s not—for leaders navigating growth, building culture, and driving accountability.
It’s more than a podcast—it’s a gateway to The CEO Playbook and the next step in becoming the leader your business needs next.
Episodes
29 episodes
Episode 29: You Can't See Your Own Ceiling From Inside the Business | Nathan Austin, Mytech Partners
Nathan Austin has broken through four or five plateaus in twenty-six years of building Mytech Partners. Not one of them did he see coming, and not one of them did he solve alone.An acquisition that pushed change faster than the business ...
Episode 28: Stop Doing the Job You Already Left | Dan Larsen, DCI Inc.
Dan Larsen took a CEO title he had always wanted, then spent a year learning it was the wrong seat for who he is. He came out of it with a coach, an honest look at what he is actually good at, and a rule he now builds everything around. Point t...
Episode 27: The 99/1 Rule Nobody Talks About | Pete Wolf, Robinson Rubber Products
Some of the people who built your company are not the people who scale it. That's the call growth-stage CEOs put off longest, because the person in question worked hard and got you here.Pete Wolf bought Robinson Rubber Products, wrote th...
Episode 26 Starting over at almost 50 with Mike Amine
Mike Amine walked away from a corner office, a 26-year run, and a guaranteed paycheck at MetLife to start over from zero at almost 50. No marketing department, no compliance department, no built-in resources. Just a leap of faith and his wif...
Episode 25: Why Great CEOs Let Go of What They Used to Do Best | Keith Nichol
Most CEOs become successful by being excellent operators.Then growth demands a different job.You have to stop solving every problem yourself and focus on the work only the CEO can do.In this conversa...
Episode 24: Your Strength Becomes Your Bottleneck | Troy Schroeder
Troy Schroeder built Clutch from a couple of people to just shy of 60, doubling the business several times in nine years. He was also the firm's best salesperson. Which made him, in his words, the thing standing in the way.In this conver...
Episode #23: The Real Work Is Building Leaders Before You Need Them | Barry Conchie
A lot of companies say they care about leadership, then lower the standard when it is time to choose.Barry Conchie does not do that.This conversation gets into what leadership actually predicts, why most teams are...
Episode #22: Why Growth Stalls When the CEO Stays in the Middle | David Sokol
A lot of CEOs think they have a growth problem.What they really have is a leadership problem.David Sokol shares what changed in his business when he stopped being the center of everything, invested in senior leadership, and treate...
Episode #21: Why Your Team Isn't Telling You the Truth | Michael Reddington
Most CEOs think they have a culture problem. Michael Reddington says it's a conversation problem.Michael is a certified forensic interviewer, president of Quaive, and author of The Disciplined Listening Method. He spent a decade...
Episode 20: What Your Accountant Sees That You Don’t — with Pat Fuelling, CPA
Most CEOs think their CPA only sees the numbers. Pat Fuelling sees the patterns — the warning signs, the blind spots, and the decisions that separate leaders who scale from those who stall.Pat is a partner and executive commit...
Episode 19: When Ego Becomes Strategy: A Founder’s Wake Up Call on Leadership and Growth with Casey Profita
There is a moment many CEOs remember clearly.Not the first sale.Not the first hire.The moment they realize they are exhausted, isolated, and carrying more than the business should require.In this episode of ...
Episode 18: Why Capable Leaders Get Stuck Working Harder Instead of Leading Better with Peter Oxley
Most CEOs don’t fail because they lack effort, intelligence, or ambition.They get stuck because the business outgrows the way they’re leading.In this episode of Escape the CEO Doom Loop, Glen Dall and John Ninkovich sit down...
Episode 17: When Bigger Becomes the Problem with Brad Giles
Most CEOs are not stuck because they are bad operators.They are stuck because they are chasing bigger instead of better.This conversation is about the moment when growth stops working, and what replaces it.If you are scaling f...
Episode 16: Why Growth Slows After Success (And What CEOs Miss) with Shannon Susko
Growth doesn’t slow because CEOs lose ambition or discipline.It slows because success creates complexity faster than structure can keep up.In this episode of Escape the CEO Doom Loop, hosts Glen Dall and John Ninkovich sit down with...
Episode 15: When Hitting Your Goals Leaves You Asking "Now What?" with Dan Hanson
Most CEOs do not burn out from lack of effort. They burn out from reacting too fast.Dan Hanson is the CEO of Hanson Remodeling, serving homeowners across Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the first ring of suburbs.With a background in bu...
Episode 14: Accountability Without Emotion: Building a Values-Driven Business with Philip Chabot
What happens when a CEO realizes he’s the bottleneck in his own business? In this episode of Escape the CEO Doom Loop, hosts Glen Dall and John Ninkovich sit down with Philip Chabot, CEO of RSC Mechanical, to talk about the uncomfortable truth ...
Episode 13: Carl Saunders on Doubling Revenue, Tripling Profit, and Rebuilding Trust
Carl Saunders was stuck.Four years of flat revenue. Flat profit.Eighty to one hundred hour weeks.Two top performers asking, “Where is the opportunity here?”Most CEOs know that moment.Few know how to climb out.In th...
Episode 12: How Ego, Crisis & Coaching Rebuilt Matt Dion's Leadership
In this episode of Escape the CEO Doom Loop, hosts Glen Dall and John Ninkovich sit down with former tech CEO turned coach Matt Dion.Matt shares his unfiltered story of success, burnout, and reinvention through the 2008 ...
Episode 11: Pressure Is a Privilege: Josh Barney on Family Business Leadership
In this episode of Escape the CEO Doom Loop, Glen Dall and John Ninkovich sit down with Josh Barney, Vice President of JJ Barney Construction. A former attorney who left the courtroom for concrete, Josh shares the story of joining his ...
Episode 10: From Millions Lost to Millions Gained: Richard Bryan’s Story
At 28 years old, Richard Bryan was thrown into the CEO seat of his family’s 100-year-old car dealership group — a business losing millions and on the brink of collapse. With 400 employees and 16 family shareholders depending on him, survival be...
Episode 9: The CEO Shift: From Doer to Leader - Shawn Verlinden, Auch Construction
In this episode of Escape the CEO Doom Loop, hosts Glen Dall and John Ninkovich sit down with Shawn Verlinden, CEO of Auch Construction. Shawn shares his journey from project manager to CEO of a 100+ year-old construction firm, and how...
Episode 8: Burnout, Bad Hires & Bulldozing Through the Doom Loop with Anthony Stayman
Burnout, Bad Hires & Bulldozing Through the Doom LoopWhat happens when you hit rock bottom in the CEO seat—8 figures in debt, team trust eroding, and no clear way out?In this episode, Glen Dall and John Ninkovich sit down...
Episode 7: Leading a Legacy Without Losing Yourself with Matt McDonell
What does it really take to lead a century-old family business into its next era of growth, without losing yourself in the process?In this episode, Glen Dall and John Ninkovich sit down with Matt McDonell, CEO of MJS Packaging, to explo...
Episode 6: Escaping the Doom Loop & Staying Aligned at the Top with Michael Guthrie of InForm Studio
When your company’s growth slows, the instinct is to work harder, move faster, and push your team harder. But what if that’s exactly what’s keeping you stuck?In this episode, Michael Guthrie, experienced CEO, breaks down why even the mo...
Episode 5: Discipline, Vision, Trust: The Core of Real CEO Growth with Bill Costello
In this episode, Glen and John sit down with Bill Costello, CEO of Streeter Custom Builder, for an honest and insightful look at what it really takes to transition from doing the work—to leading the people who do.From running operations ...