Marilee Johnson started Bend Soap Company on a farm in Bend, Oregon with a few goats and a mission to help her son's eczema. Today it is a national natural skincare brand. In this episode she shares what it actually took to scale a family business, the mindset shifts, the hard lessons, and why getting clear on your values before you hire anyone changes everything. If you are growing a team and wondering how to do it without losing your soul, this conversation is for you.

Most leaders think they have a pulse on their team. But surface-level check-ins and "how's everyone doing?" questions rarely tell you what's really going on. If you're noticing quiet disengagement, low morale, or a team that seems hesitant to speak up, it's not a people problem. It's a communication gap — and this episode will help you close it.

In this episode, I'm walking you through the Culture Checkpoint: a 6-question framework designed to help you assess your team culture honestly, identify hidden issues before they become real problems, and have the kind of conversations that actually build trust.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why traditional team check-ins fail (and what to do instead)
• The 6 questions every leader should be asking to measure team health
• How to spot early warning signs of disengagement, burnout, or communication breakdown
• What strong team culture actually looks like — and how to know if you're building itWhether you're managing a small team or leading an entire organization, this team health assessment gives you a clear, repeatable way to evaluate where you are and what needs to change.This episode is for you if:✔ You're a manager, team lead, or female founder who wants better team communication✔ You feel like your team isn't being fully honest with you✔ You want to improve your leadership skills and create a psychologically safe workplace✔ You're tired of vague answers and want real insight into your team's experience
• Subscribe for weekly leadership tips, team management strategies, and real conversations about what it actually takes to lead well.Get the ONE CONVERSATION AWAY LEADERSHIP TOOLKIT: https://www.heykaralist.com/toolkit

If you have an employee who shuts down, pushes back, or just never seems to respond to feedback the way you hope, this episode is for you.

Before you can have the conversation, you have to understand why you keep avoiding it. And the answer might surprise you. Most of the time it isn't about them at all. It's about the story you've already decided is true.

In this episode we talk about why leaders confuse predictions with reality, how one hard moment with an employee can quietly become the whole story you tell about them, and how to use curiosity and a simple feedback framework to finally have the conversation that could change everything.

Plus I'm sharing the CLEAR feedback framework so you know exactly what to say when you sit down with that employee you've been avoiding.

If you're ready to stop managing people through the filter of a story they don't even know exists, this one's for you.

Grab the free feedback template at https://www.heykaralist.com/feedback