In our first episode of 2026, we dive into the inspiring journey of Azure Standard, and the details behind their transformative journey with Kolbe. Karen Slusher, Chief Experience Officer of Azure Standard, sits down with Eric Herrera to share how Azure Standard embraced Kolbe’s principles to unlock the full potential of their team, foster a culture of conative excellence, and drive organizational growth. This commitment recently earned Azure Standard the Kolbe Enterprise Award for Organizational Leadership in Building Conative Excellence—a recognition of their dedication to empowering people and building a thriving workplace. If you’re curious about how Kolbe can spark real change, or you want to hear firsthand how Karen led Azure Standard through this evolution, this episode is a must-listen. Tune in for practical insights, candid stories, and the keys to building a stronger, more dynamic organization.

Host: Eric Herrera, VP of Growth and Strategic Alliances @ Kolbe Corp (Kolbe: 5-3-9-2)

Guest-at-a-Glance

💡 Name: Karen Slusher, Chief Experience Officer @ Azure Standard (3-2-10-3)

💡 What she does: She helps run Azure Standard, an organic food distributor and manufacturer with an organic farm. They do a lot of different things in that organic and natural space, and acts as a community across the United States of people who just want to build healthy and abundant lives.

💡 Company: Azure Standard

💡 Website: azurestandard.com

Jaw-Dropping Moments

• When Karen describes crying and then getting angry after truly understanding her Kolbe results, realizing she hadn’t been able to be her authentic self for much of her life.
• A young employee, on the verge of quitting and estranged from his parents, reconnects with his family and changes his life path after a Kolbe training session.
• Karen shares how Kolbe transformed her marriage and family dynamics, reducing friction and improving communication with her husband and adult children.

Key Quotes from Karen Slusher

"When you suddenly sense that freedom for yourself, you want everybody to have that freedom. There's a joy within you that just explodes."

"It's given us permission to stop asking people to be someone else as an organization."

"We’re intervening before people burn out, before they're frustrated, before some conflict arises."

"It’s freed us up to be who we truly are, right across the board in every dynamic or every part of our lives."

"If I sound like I'm a Kolbe advertisement, I am—and they're not paying me to say this. I'm just telling you: go, because it will make a massive difference all around."

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Find the freedom to be yourself by taking the Kolbe A™ Index or Kolbe Y™ Index for the youth in your life. Many successful companies work directly with a Kolbe Certified™ Consultant — find one in your area.

In this episode of the Powered by Instinct podcast, Kolbe CEO David Kolbe sits down with Bill Isaacs, Founder of Dialogos. They delve into the core principles of organizational communication, the essence of dialogue, and how to unlock individual and team potential. Learn how to turn conflict into opportunity, the transformative power of genuine dialogue, and the groundbreaking impact understanding instinctive strengths can have to propel your organization to new heights. Don't miss out on these insider tips to supercharge your leadership and team performance!

Host: David Kolbe,CEO at Kolbe Corp (Kolbe: 8273)

Guest-at-a-Glance

💡Name: William Isaacs, Founder and President at Dialogos(Kolbe: 6393)

💡What he does: He helps to shape the field of dialogue-driven leadership and systemic change.

💡Company: Dialogos
��Book: Dialogue: The Art of Thinking Together
��Website: https://www.dialogos.com/

Jaw-Dropping Moments

• When Isaacs explained how “shared ideals” almost always produce the opposite of what people hope for.
• When he said trust isn’t a prerequisite for change — it’s the result of people witnessing each other truly listen.
• The private-equity story where a massively failing company turned the corner in three hours once people finally said the things they hadn’t felt safe to say.
• The 40-40-20 Rule: Only 20% of “questions” people ask are real questions.
• The revelation that people don’t think first and act later — actions emerge from the flow of conversation and relationship.

Key Quotes

“To communicate, you don’t have to agree. If you give up trying to agree and simply work toward understanding. That’s transformational.”

“Trust is an outcome, not an input. It arises when people genuinely endeavor to listen in ways they normally wouldn’t.”

“Most meetings are serial monologues. Dialogue only begins when we suspend our certainty and start to inquire.”

“It takes more time not to have the conversation you need to have.”

“If you’re a hundred percent certain the other guy is the problem, you can count on the fact that you don’t have it right.”

“Leaders are much more likely to be successful if they understand the architecture and wiring of the people they’re leading — including themselves.”

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Find the freedom to be yourself by taking the Kolbe A™ Index or Kolbe Y™ Index for the youth in your life. Many successful companies work directly with a Kolbe Certified™ Consultant — find one in your area.

What if the chaos in your business wasn’t a problem—but a sign of opportunity?

In this episode of Powered by Instinct, host David Kolbe sits down with Chris Ronzio, founder and CEO of Trainual, to talk about entrepreneurship, scaling businesses, and why every company needs a playbook. From his early days running a video production company as a teenager to building Trainual into a platform used by thousands of businesses, Chris shares the lessons he’s learned about operations, leadership, and letting go as a founder.

Chris doesn’t hold back on the tough parts of entrepreneurship either—letting go of control, recognizing when the problem is the person vs. the training, and finding the right balance between chaos and structure. Along the way, he dives into how being an Initiating Quick Start (2594) on the Kolbe A™ Index fuels his energy for big ideas and rapid experimentation, while also creating challenges that he’s learned to solve with the right people and systems around him.

Host: David Kolbe, CEO at Kolbe Corp (Kolbe: 8273) 

Guest-at-a-Glance 

💡 Name: Chris Ronzio, Founder and CEO at Trainual (Kolbe: 2594)

💡 What he does: The creator of Trainual, Chris is “a founder, systems thinker, and storyteller at heart—driven by one core mission: to make business easier by empowering people with clarity, purpose, and scalable tools.”

💡 Company: Trainual
�� Book: The Business Playbook
�� Website: https://www.chrisronzio.com/

Jaw-Dropping Moments 

• Chris sold his first real business—a video production company he started at 14 years old.
• He once had a mom furious at him because his camera operator’s battery died during her daughter’s performance—sparking his obsession with processes that never fail twice.
• Trainual started as a side tool for his consulting clients, and four years later, he ditched consulting entirely to go all-in.
• He uses his assistant as a filter for his flood of ideas so his team doesn’t accidentally take brainstorms as a marching orders.
• Chris predicts that in the near future, businesses will manage not just employees but also AI agents and humanoid robots—and Trainual will be the playbook that tells them all what “good” looks like.

Key Quotes 

“If there’s no chaos in your business, that’s a bad thing. That means you don’t have opportunity coming at you.”

“Every company should have an instruction manual. It’s malpractice to run a business without one.”

“Bad performance is either the wrong person or the wrong training.”

“The good businesses fix problems the first time they happen. The bad ones retreat and try to avoid ever scaling past them.”

“I’m very open to being wrong, but I’ll still throw out crazy ideas—just don’t take every one as gospel.”

“Current best practices—that’s the phrase I use. It keeps everyone aligned today, but leaves room for innovation tomorrow.”

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Find the freedom to be yourself by taking the Kolbe A™ Index or Kolbe Y™ Index for the youth in your life. Many successful companies work directly with a Kolbe Certified™ Consultant — find one in your area.