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The Business Owner's Journey

The Business Owner's Journey

By: Nick Berry
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We shorten the learning curve of business ownership by bringing on entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators to share their stories, challenges, leadership practices, and winning strategies.


Welcome to ‘The Business Owner’s Journey', the podcast that’s here to help you navigate your way in the world of business ownership.


Hosted by 20+ year entrepreneur Nick Berry.

Nick interviews entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators to share their personal stories, challenges, leadership, and strategies from their own business owner’s journey.

Guests like:
Anne McGinty, Nick Nanton, Chase Murdock, Jessica Rhodes, Matt Diggity, John DiJulius, John Jantsch, Roland Gurney, Brett Bartholomew, Kiri Masters, Matt Goebel, Austin Mullins, Dr. Haley Perlus, Kelly Berry, Dana Farber, Steve McFarland, Sara Nay, Scott Fay, Daniel Wakefield, Jessica Yarmey, Shireen Hilal, Vivien Hudson, Anthony Milia, Romi Wallach and Nicole Mastrangelo.


It’s crowdsourced business mentorship in highly concentrated doses.


We’ll cover:
- Strategy
- Leadership
- Ideas & Opportunities
- Best practices
- Tools and resources
- All of the Lessons and experience from our guests


This podcast for the business owners who are driven to grow and improve,
+ Who want realistic and actionable insights.
+ Who understand the immeasurable value in lessons learned from others.
+ And that they’re just one lightbulb moment away from a big breakthrough.

The goal is to shorten your learning curve so you can get out in front of challenges and be prepared for opportunities.

The journey for a business owner is hard. It’s complex, it’s stressful, and can be lonely.

But it can also be exciting, rewarding, and fulfilling, and you don’t have to do it alone.


Take advantage of insights and experiences of other business owners and how they’re navigating their own Business Owner’s Journeys, so you don't have to figure it all out on your own.

Learn from businesses like Diggity Marketing, Duct Tape Marketing, Bobsled Marketing Agency, Treacle Marketing Agency, Moonstone Marketing, Vistage, EOS, John Maxwell Team, Life Intended, Top Tier Headshots, Milia Marketing, The Daily Drip


#SmallBusiness #Entrepreneur #BusinessGrowth #SmallBiz #Startup #BusinessTips #BusinessLessons #BusinessOwner #OnlineBusiness #SmallBusinessOwner
#BusinessMentor #BusinessCoach # BusinessMastermind #GrowthHacking #BusinessSuccess #BusinessLeadership #BusinessStrategy #MarketingStrategy

© 2026 FCG, LLC Economics Leadership Management & Leadership Marketing Marketing & Sales
Episodes
  • The Middle Is Gone: 5 Leadership Moves Top Experts Are Making in 2026

    The Middle Is Gone: 5 Leadership Moves Top Experts Are Making in 2026
    Jun 23 2026
    Full Episode Page: The Middle Is Gone: 5 Leadership Moves Top Experts Are Making in 2026This is a solo episode of The Business Owner's Journey with host Nick Berry, pulling together insights from six Season 3 guests to map out the leadership moves expert business owners need to make right now.Six months into 2026, AI handles average work and expertise is being commoditized faster than ever. The middle 60% of experts can't coast on credentials or effort anymore. Nick pulls clips from Joe Gannon, Dr. Benjamin Hardy, Katelyn Bourgoin, Natasha Walstra, Debbie Oster, and Jordan DiPietro to lay out five leadership moves for expert business owners. If your positioning, content, or value proposition sounds like something AI could generate, you're already invisible to the people who don't know you yet. You'll Hear-Why AI exposed the middle 60% of experts, not replaced them-How radical honesty unlocks every leadership move that follows-What an ownable idea is and why expertise alone won't cut it-Why most experts hide their trophies instead of showing up-How narrowing your audience opens more opportunity, not less-Why the best founders build support systems for harder callsLinks-5 Stages of the Business Owner's Journey-Five Ceilings for Expertise BusinessesFeatured Guests & Episodes-Joe Gannon Episode: AI, Authority and Personal Branding for Founders -Dr. Benjamin Hardy Episode: The Science of Scaling and Why 10x Changes Leadership-Katelyn Bourgoin Episode: Buyer Psychology and the Ownable Idea-Natasha Walstra Episode: Personal Branding and LinkedIn Strategies -Debbie Oster Episode: Messaging Strategy, Marketing Leadership, and Agency-Jordan DiPietro Episode: The 3H Leadership Framework Chapters00:00 Mid-Year 2026 Business Recap01:46 Joe Gannon: The Middle Is Gone and AI's Impact on Expert Businesses02:36 Five Leadership Moves for Expert Business Owners03:06 Dr. Benjamin Hardy: Tell Yourself the Truth04:31 Why Working Harder Won't Move You Up05:05 Katelyn Bourgoin: Build an Ownable Idea09:37 Natasha Walstra: Stop Hiding and Stand Out as an Expert11:07 Debbie Oster: Decide Who You Are Not For14:13 Jordan DiPietro: Don't Go It Alone17:25 One Shift, Five Moves, What's NextThe Business Owner's Journey podcast is where entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators join entrepreneur Nick Berry to share stories, challenges, and strategies from their journeys as business owners.Nick Berry is an entrepreneur and business advisor, known for creating the Business Alignment System™ and 5 Stages of the Business Owner’s Journey. He offers a (free) personalized 90-Day Business Growth Roadmap telling you exactly where you are today and what specific steps to take next.🟢 Official: NickBerry.info. tBOJ is hosted by Nick Berry, produced by Nick Berry, Kelly Berry & FCG. 🟢 Sponsors: Redesigned.Business, FR, Entrepreneur's Edge
    Show More Show Less
    18 mins
  • Shireen Hilal: AI, Trust, and the Boutique Advantage in Professional Services Firm Growth

    Shireen Hilal: AI, Trust, and the Boutique Advantage in Professional Services Firm Growth
    Jun 2 2026

    Full Episode Page: Shireen Hilal: AI, Trust and the Boutique Advantage in Professional Services Firm Growth

    Shireen Hilal is the CEO and founder of Maior Strategic Consulting, where she advises professional services firms on how to grow.

    Shireen returns for her third appearance on The Business Owner's Journey with Nick Berry. Shireen breaks down how AI is splitting expertise into commodity information and high-value judgment, why boutique and mid-market firms have a real window right now, and why chasing best practices gets you average results. She also gets into what hiring looks like for a small consulting team and why being cheap with good people has never built a great firm.

    You'll Hear:
    -    Why almost no firm asks clients if the work was actually useful
    -How AI is splitting expertise into commodity vs. judgment work
    -Why boutique firms have a structural advantage right now
    -What "Swiss army knife" hiring means for small teams
    -Why best practices are a floor, and rarely a ceiling

    Links:
    -Maior Strategic Consulting
    -Shireen Hilal on LinkedIn

    Chapters
    00:00 Introduction and Welcome Back
    03:12 Why Firms Skip Client Feedback and What It Costs Them
    10:45 How AI Is Splitting Expertise into Commodity or Judgment Work
    18:30 Why Boutique and Mid-Market Firms Have a Real Window Right Now
    26:15 Hiring for Small Business Growth: Swiss Army Knives and the Cost of Cheap Talent
    34:00 Why Best Practices Make You Average
    40:22 Final Thoughts and Wrap-Up

    Busy but not clear on what actually matters next?
    Get a free 90-Day Business Growth Roadmap to pinpoint your stage, identify the one priority that unlocks progress, and focus your next 90 days with confidence.

    Get it here: https://www.nickberry.info/roadmap

    New here? Meet Nick Berry: https://www.nickberry.info/about

    The Business Owner's Journey podcast is where entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators join entrepreneur Nick Berry to share stories, challenges, and strategies from their journeys as business owners.

    Nick Berry is an entrepreneur and business advisor, known for creating the Business Alignment System™ and 5 Stages of the Business Owner’s Journey. He offers a (free) personalized 90-Day Business Growth Roadmap telling you exactly where you are today and what specific steps to take next.

    🟢 Official: NickBerry.info. tBOJ is hosted by Nick Berry, produced by Nick Berry, Kelly Berry & FCG.
    🟢 Sponsors: Redesigned.Business, FR, Entrepreneur's Edge
    Show More Show Less
    34 mins
  • Katelyn Bourgoin: Buyer Psychology and the Ownable Idea That Grows an Expert Business

    Katelyn Bourgoin: Buyer Psychology and the Ownable Idea That Grows an Expert Business
    May 19 2026

    Full Episode Page: Katelyn Bourgoin: Buyer Psychology and the Ownable Idea That Grows an Expert Business

    Katelyn Bourgoin is a buyer psychology expert and founder of Why We Buy.

    In this episode, Katelyn joins host Nick Berry to explore how customer research, positioning, and a brainware business model help expert entrepreneurs outpace market shifts. She breaks down how to package a revelatory, ownable idea and turn research into messaging that converts. Katelyn also pressure-tests Nick's Parallel Process framework, showing how to sharpen a narrative buyers immediately understand and share.

    You’ll Hear
    -How buyer psychology reveals shifts before competitors.
    -What makes an idea ownable and memorable.
    -When to replace courses with a brainware model.
    -How to turn research into revenue-driving messaging.
    -Best ways to position expert entrepreneurs to lead.
    -How to craft sticky, spreadable narratives.
    -Whether to co-create outcomes with clients.
    -Worst pitfall: isolating and echoing industry jargon.

    Links
    -Why We Buy by Katelyn Bourgoin
    -Be Unignorable
    -Katelyn on LinkedIn
    -Katelyn on X

    Chapters
    00:00 Katelyn Bourgoin's Entrepreneurial Journey
    03:32 Navigating Pivots and Failures
    05:38 The Future of Service-Based Businesses
    08:18 Building a Brainware Business Model
    10:52 Messaging Strategy for Consultants
    13:22 Positioning for Expert Entrepreneurs
    16:16 Finding and Framing an Ownable Idea
    18:46 Revelatory Messaging and Buyer Psychology
    21:21 Parallel Process and Expertise Business Growth
    24:02 The Evolution of Unignorable

    Busy but not clear on what actually matters next?
    Get a free 90-Day Business Growth Roadmap to pinpoint your stage, identify the one priority that unlocks progress, and focus your next 90 days with confidence.

    Get it here: https://www.nickberry.info/roadmap

    New here? Meet Nick Berry: https://www.nickberry.info/about

    The Business Owner's Journey podcast is where entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators join entrepreneur Nick Berry to share stories, challenges, and strategies from their journeys as business owners.

    Nick Berry is an entrepreneur and business advisor, known for creating the Business Alignment System™ and 5 Stages of the Business Owner’s Journey. He offers a (free) personalized 90-Day Business Growth Roadmap telling you exactly where you are today and what specific steps to take next.

    🟢 Official: NickBerry.info. tBOJ is hosted by Nick Berry, produced by Nick Berry, Kelly Berry & FCG.
    🟢 Sponsors: Redesigned.Business, FR, Entrepreneur's Edge
    Show More Show Less
    33 mins
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