Empathy is often misunderstood in leadership. Some see it as softness, others as optional.But research and real-world experience continue to show that empathy is one of the most powerful drivers of trust, performance, and sustainable leadership.

In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, we sit down with Kim Gubera to explore the role empathy plays in leadership, decision-making, and culture, especially in environments where performance, accountability, and people all matter deeply.

Kim shares thoughtful insights on:

• What empathy really looks like in day-to-day leadership

• How empathetic leadership builds trust without sacrificing standards

• The connection between empathy, communication, and strong teams

• Practical ways leaders can show up with more care while still driving results

🎙️ Hosted by Stephen Sakach and Mike Liwski

🎧 Produced by Martha Huerta

Empathy in leadership is not about lowering expectations. It is about raising the quality of how we lead people while meeting them where they are.

Customers are no longer impressed by profit alone. They want to see what brands stand for. Recent global research shows that more than three quarters of consumers say they are more likely to trust and stay loyal to brands that act in socially and environmentally responsible ways, even when times are tough.

In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, we sit down with Joe Dent, CEO of Everything Pets, a Division of Loyalty Brands, to explore how franchise leaders can grow profit while honoring their responsibility to animals, communities, and the people behind the counter.

Joe shares powerful insights on:

• What balancing profit and social responsibility really looks like in a pet focused franchise system

• The systems that help franchisees deliver both strong financials and real community impact

• Whether empathy and purpose can truly scale across multi unit, multi brand organizations

• Practical steps leaders can take to align values, operations, and growth

🎙️ Hosted by Tullio Siragusa

🎧 Produced by Martha Huerta

The future belongs to brands that can look their customers, communities, and investors in the eye and say, “We did well by doing good” and have the receipts to prove it.

Franchise brands that treat marketing as a growth engine, not just a support function, are far more likely to scale efficiently across locations. Yet many multi-location businesses still struggle to unify strategy, performance data, and local execution into a system that consistently drives results.

In this week’s Marketing With Purpose Kit from The Bliss Business Podcast, we’re joined by Fred Navas, Digital Marketing Specialist at Zero Company. With a career that dates back to the early days of paid search, Fred has led direct response campaigns for both local and national brands and built a strong reputation for performance driven strategy and execution.

Over the past several years, Fred has specialized in supporting franchise and multi-location businesses with lead generation campaigns across Google, social platforms, and SEO. His expertise spans Digital Display Advertising, Pay Per Click (PPC), Programmatic Advertising, and Google Analytics — all grounded in a focus on measurable growth and scalable results.

🎙️ Hosted by Michele Brasfield

🎧 Produced by Martha Huerta

🧭 In this episode, we cover:

• Why marketing must function as a growth engine for franchise systems

• How performance data guides smarter multi-location strategies

• Practical approaches to lead generation at scale

• Lessons from decades of digital advertising evolution

🎧 Whether you’re growing a single brand or managing multiple locations, this conversation will help you rethink how marketing fuels sustainable franchise expansion.