Revenue Mind

From co-founding an agency and running it for 12 years to bottoming out in burnout a decade ago, Carlos Hidalgo rebuilt his life around a simple reversal: decide the life you want first, then make work feed it. Author of The UnAmerican Dream, Carlos joins Jolie to get honest about the parts that don't make the highlight reel: the rock bottom that became his wake-up call, why he stopped chasing balance in favor of hard boundaries, and how a life measured in experiences beats one measured in stuff. His throughline: work makes a lousy god, you only get 168 hours a week, and joy is a daily choice, because our hard is most people's easy. Key Takeaways• He bottomed out after 12 years running the agency he co-founded, and now helps leaders avoid the same wall. • Define the life you want first, then make work feed it. Western culture has it backwards. • What makes him him: his faith. "Don't mistake God's provision for your own performance."• "My life is a vapor": he's a blip, not the center of the universe, and that takes the pressure off. • Authentic community over affirmation: he won't affirm bad behavior, because that isn't love. • Not about him: a client's budget cut he can't control, and it doesn't make him less worthy. • The critics online "don't have a front seat to my life." About five people's critique he actually accepts. • The two books: the one he was selling, The UnAmerican Dream was the one he needed to write for himself. • Work has become "a lousy god": he doesn't believe in balance, he builds boundaries around the 5 things.• Chief Energy Officer: bringing the jolt when he's running empty is generosity, not, "the most honest lie you tell." • A life of experiences over stuff: "there's no pockets in a shroud," so he buys the jet ski, not the second house. Like this one? Follow Revenue Mind, and leave a review if it hit home. It's how more revenue leaders find the show, and how we keep mental health right next to the number.LinksConnect with Carlos Hidalgo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlosahidalgo/Grab his book, The UnAmerican Dream: https://www.carloshidalgo.co/booksLearn more about Carlos: https://www.carloshidalgo.coSubscribe to his Life Design Newsletter: https://hidalgoc.substack.com/Connect with Jolie Shapiro on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jolieshapiroCheck out Revenue Mind: revenuemind.co

From the kid who got sent to detention for talking to a keynote speaker who now gets paid to do it across the globe, Larry Long Jr turned relentless energy into a career, and the misery he once hid behind a smile into the thing he teaches. Chief Energy Officer and author of JOLT!, Larry joins Jolie to get honest about the parts that don't make the highlight reel: the day his wife told him to stop faking the funk, the corporate unhappiness he masked with a "smile for a mile," and why the guy whose entire brand is energy still struggles to ask for help. His throughline: bringing the energy is a choice you make every day, but you can't fake your way out alone. It's okay to receive as much as you give. Key Takeaways• Born this way: the kid who got detention for talking grew up to get paid for it. "I was just practicing." • He teaches that getting unstuck is your choice, but his own leap only came when his wife said "stop faking the funk." • The mask: "smile for a mile" at the office, shoulders slumped and halfway depressed the moment he got home. • "Teamwork makes the dream work": he tried to be Superman and couldn't. • "The best sale of my life": meeting Maria, the fake name, the trashed business card, and 20 years married. • He went full-time as a live-event speaker the month live events died, after corporate "chucked up the deuces." • The failed baseball academy that taught him to know his numbers. • "Healthy people ask for exactly what they want": the coach who caught him treating every ask as a burden. • Learning to receive, not just give: the "Thank You, It's True" reframe. • Chief Energy Officer: bringing the jolt when he's running empty is generosity, not, "the most honest lie you tell." • The search that made him a "transparency lunatic," and the lesson: own it.• "It's my choice": the carpool-dad creed, and why he'd rather be a Tigger than an Eeyore. Like this one? Follow Revenue Mind, and leave a review if it hit home. It's how more revenue leaders find the show, and how we keep mental health right next to the number.LinksConnect with Larry on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/longjr7Grab his book, JOLT!: https://larrylongjr.com/jolt/Learn more about Larry: https://larrylongjr.comWatch Larry on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtHsbn_-WhhtnEtCksm-UhAFollow Larry on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/longjr7Follow Larry on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@larrylongjr7Connect with Jolie Shapiro on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jolieshapiroCheck out Revenue Mind: revenuemind.co

From getting roasted by the head of sales for telling a client the truth to building three books and a whole career around radical honesty, Todd Caponi turned transparency into his entire operating system. Author of The Transparency Sale, Todd joins Jolie to get honest about the parts that don't make the highlight reel: the century-old sales books stacked in the museum behind him, the dog-boarding disaster that turned him into a "transparency lunatic," and why, on a mental health show, his most honest answer is that he's been lucky. His throughline: more information has never once made buying easier, the answer has always been service, and if the truth won't sell it, don't sell it.
Key Takeaways• A behavioral-science nerd who built a sales history museum behind his desk, going back to the 1870s.•"Buyers know more nowadays": the same fear drove the mail-order panic of 1910 and the AI panic today.•"True salesmanship is the science of service" (1911): more information has never once made buying easier.• Transparency is the closest thing to a magic bullet: do the homework, share the cons, help buyers predict.• He told a client the truth, got roasted by the head of sales for it, and resigned the next day without a job.• His mantra, from a 1921 book: "If the truth won't sell it, don't sell it."• It's 2026: the truth finds the light anyway, and the only thing you have is your reputation.• He refers prospects to competitors when he isn't the best fit: "I'd come in at maybe number 47."• His own one-star review: from "the hardest working jackass on the planet" to no calls on Fridays, on purpose.• The CRO years that burned him out: an hour-20 commute, 200 emails, kidney stones, "a bucket of goo."• The search that made him a "transparency lunatic," and the lesson: own it.• On a mental health show, his most honest answer: he's been lucky, and won't manufacture a wound he doesn't have.
Like this one? Follow Revenue Mind, and leave a review if it hit home. It's how more revenue leaders find the show, and how we keep mental health right next to the number.LinksConnect with Todd Caponi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddcaponi/Find out more about Todd Capooni: https://toddcaponi.com/Connect with Jolie Shapiro on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jolieshapiroCheck out Revenue Mind:revenuemind.co

From an air mattress in her uncle's basement with negative 437 euros to her name to leading sales development teams at some of tech's best-known brands, Gabrielle Blackwell built a career on refusing to earn her worth by overcompensating for it. Sales and sales development leader, Gabrielle joins Jolie to get honest about the parts that don't make the highlight reel: the grandfather who went from driving a cab to one of IBM's most senior Black professionals in sales, the bipolar diagnosis that surfaced inside a hostile workplace, and the faith that finally took the number off her shoulders. Her throughline: you don't have to become someone else to succeed, you just have to honor how you're wired, meet people where they are, and let something bigger than the quota carry the weight.Key Takeaways• Family, friends, faith. "I love the Lord. The Lord loves me."• Her grandfather went from driving a cab to one of IBM's most senior Black professionals in sales• Her grandmother who set the standard who grew up in Jim Crow Louisville.• Faith takes the pressure off the number. "I'm aware of the absence of my anxiety."• Strip the quota, the title, and the business, and she's "a regular degular person" here to serve more than be served.• Sales started at 24: fresh off a divorce, on an air mattress in her uncle's basement, negative 437 euros in the bank.• Hyper-independence has a bill: the drive to never rely on anyone started costing her relationships.• A diagnosis that surfaced in a hostile workplace, and the doctor who would’ve worried more if she hadn't broken.• Bipolar "doesn't mean that I'm having an episode every single day": her vulnerability just has a name in the DSM.• She won't stay anywhere that costs her mental health: "you can't pay me enough money."• Leading neurodivergent reps by fitting the process to the person: "I'm not gonna ask how you got there."• Generational gifts, not just curses: "you're the one who gets to break it."Like this one? Follow Revenue Mind, and leave a review if it hit home. It's how more revenue leaders find the show, and how we keep mental health right next to the number.LinksConnect with Gabrielle Blackwell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielleblackwellLearn more about Great Place to Work: https://www.greatplacetowork.comConnect with Jolie Shapiro on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jolieshapiroCheck out Revenue Mind:revenuemind.co

From a small-town California kid who had never sold a thing to a VP of sales who built teams off the backs of people everyone else passed on, Scott Leese entered the professional world at 27, four years and a fight for his life into a hospitalization that split him into two people. Founder of Surf and Sales, Scott joins Jolie to get honest about the parts that don't make the highlight reel: the minor back surgery he had four hours before recording and did the episode anyway, the excuse factory he spent a career teaching reps to shut down, and why the only legacy he wants is a room full of people who show up and say "that guy helped me." His throughline: everyone's life is hard, the people who win just do the work anyway, and the legacy that lasts is the chance you took on someone nobody else would.
Key Takeaways• The man who came out of a four-year hospitalization shot out of a cannon at 27.• The world, your quota, and your boss don't care about your excuses• A minor back surgery four hours before recording, done on-mic anyway. "Okay is a relative term."• Nine surgeries, four of them life-saving, and a pain scale where his ten is someone else's five.• The people who win treat it as fuel, not a crutch, and do the work anyway.• "Bring me your castaways": he built his teams from the people other leaders wouldn't take a chance on.• The ex-felon who became a VP of sales after someone finally believed in them.• “At my funeral, all I want is people to show up and say, that guy helped me."• If Scott were accomplished, he says, he'd be on a beach surfing, "not on a podcast, respectfully."• Best interview question: what's the hardest thing you've ever been through, and how did you get through it?• The question nobody had asked him in 1,000+ podcasts, and the one line on it he still struggles with himself.
Like this one? Follow Revenue Mind, and leave a review if it hit home. It's how more revenue leaders find the show, and how we keep mental health right next to the number.LinksConnect with Scott Leese on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/scottleeseLearn more about Surf and Sales: surfandsales.comConnect with Jolie Shapiro on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jolieshapiroCheck out Revenue Mind: revenuemind.co

From selling cars to two decades in SaaS, Nikki Ivey turned a writer’s love of words into a sales career—and a conviction that the people most skilled at moving others should be creating culture, not just complaining about it. A writer first, a LinkedIn Top Voice, and co-founder of SDRDefenders, Nikki joins Jolie to get honest about the parts of sales that don’t make the highlight reel: the wigs she spent years suppressing as the only Black woman in the room, the narratives that walk in before she does, and the extra work it takes to reach the same baseline of confidence a typical seller starts from. Along the way she reframes the meritocracy debate, separates structural exclusion from the interpersonal kind, and offers a way through the DEI backlash that asks nothing of your politics—only that you care how your behavior lands on someone else. Her throughline: you can criticize culture or you can create it, and sellers are built to create.
Key Takeaways• Three frameworks that explain her: words, wigs, and women in charge• “Put the wig on, girl”: the years she spent suppressing hair-as-accessory as the only Black woman in the room• Writing as a hard sales skill—“teach the computer to talk like you, not instead of you”• Mr. Nelson, the seventh-grade English teacher who handed out prompts asking kids who they think they are• How the isolation of 2020 spawned online sales communities: Thursday Night Sales, SDRDefenders, and the one she’s most proud of, Sales for the Culture• The “external ERG” that gave Black and brown sellers a place to be vulnerable when it was needed most• “Nothing happens until something gets sold”: why sellers underestimate their power over culture• The meritocracy trap: nobody asks for the ROI case on hiring the same young white male out of college• Structural vs. interpersonal exclusion—and why your interpersonal experience still counts• Do’s and don’ts vs. wills and won’ts: a path through the backlash that skips shame and asks only that you care how your behavior lands• Permission to say the clumsy thing—create the safe space, then grow in the same direction
LinksConnect with Nikki Ivey on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nikki-iveySDRDefenders (acquired by Pavilion): joinpavilion.comConnect with Jolie Shapiro on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jolieshapiroCheck out Revenue Mind: revenuemind.co

Somewhere past 500 podcast episodes, hosting and guesting combined, and nobody had ever asked Richard Harris what talking about his mental health has cost him. Founder of The Harris Consulting Group, creator of N.E.A.T. Selling and author of The Seller’s Journey, Richard joins Jolie to trace it back to one morning in San Francisco when he woke up in the fetal position and physically could not move. What follows: the phone call to his mom, the sentence that kept him from getting on the plane, 20+ years with the same therapist, and imposter syndrome that shows up live on the recording. His throughline: you do you, and don’t be afraid to make the phone call.
Key Takeaways• Imposter syndrome as a lifelong companion, and what to say to it in real time.• The San Francisco morning he woke up in the fetal position and could not move.• “If I do that, the city wins”: why he stayed, and how he found the therapist he kept for 20+ years.• Depression described as walking around with 10 pound weights on each leg.• What staying quiet cost him, and what talking about it has cost him since.• “I thought only crazy people took medication.”• Therapy in sprints: some things resolve in a session, some take six weeks.• Double chair work, literally switching seats to have the conversation with his father.• Why “whoever speaks first loses” means you asked the wrong question.• The beer with a friend who said “I don’t know what that feels like,” and why that wasn’t rejection.• His real cell number, handed out on air, and the reason nobody ever calls.
Like this one? Follow Revenue Mind, and leave a review if it hit home. It’s how more revenue leaders find the show, and how we keep mental health right next to the number.
LinksConnect with Richard Harris on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rharris415Richard Harris (cell, he means it): 415-596-9149The Harris Consulting Group: theharrisconsultinggroup.comConnect with Jolie Shapiro on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jolieshapiroCheck out Revenue Mind: revenuemind.co

From 15+ years in professional kitchens to two decades in sales, James Buckley has built Say What Sales—a personal brand rooted in one line: if you're a salesperson, we're the same person. Founder of Say What Sales and host of the daily sales show Sell Better, James joins Jolie to get honest about the parts that don't make the highlight reel: an addiction that shifted from hard drugs to food, a 2006 ER visit that had his family relocated from Miami to Tennessee within 48 hours, and the 3 a.m. gym routine that's kept him steady through a recent type 2 diabetes diagnosis. His throughline: resilience isn't a personality trait, it's a choice you make over and over.
Key Takeaways• A type 2 diabetes diagnosis and a 70lb weight loss, done with no medication.• Addiction doesn't disappear, it just changes shape.• The case against group recovery: why AA and NA didn't work for him.• Comedy has a line, not because they aren't funny.• Corporate phrases banned from vocabulary: "circle back," "I'd love to."• Moving from Miami to Tennessee in 48 hours after an ER visit in 2006.• Resilience built through tough times makes sales rejection feel small.• Read on millennials, Gen Z, and the widening communication gap.• "They're not gonna be at your funeral."• Posting positivity even when he doesn't feel it and what he does to lift himself up.
Like this one? Follow Revenue Mind, and leave a review if it hit home. It's how more revenue leaders find the show, and how we keep mental health right next to the number.
LinksConnect with James Buckley on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jamessaywhatsalesbuckleyJames Buckley on Instagram: instagram.com/saywhatsalesJames Buckley on TikTok: tiktok.com/@saywhatsalesSell Better: sellbetter.xyzConnect with Jolie Shapiro on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jolieshapiroCheck out Revenue Mind: revenuemind.co

From one-and-done author to accidental evangelist for a better way to work, Freddie Laker has spent a decade building Chameleon Collective, a four-time Inc. 5000 “collective” where everyone gets to be the boss and share the risk instead of one person throwing themselves in the fire. Founder of Chameleon Collective and co-author of the bestselling Collective Capitalism, Freddie joins Jolie to get honest about the parts that don’t make the highlight reel: why he preaches “no one should carry it alone” and still grabs the stressful hot potato himself, what actually scares him about AI, and the on-mic existential crisis when he realized he might be the last person who should talk about work-life balance. His throughline: there’s opportunity in chaos, but only if you stop trying to carry it alone.
Key Takeaways• Collectivism runs on “we people,” not “me people,” so no one carries risk alone.• Collaboration is approaching zero unlocking a collective business model.• Help 10,000 companies form collectives than sell and sail off into retirement.• Introvert and extrovert at once: off the clock he’s a tinkerer who can’t sit still.• Controlling your own future without carrying the risk yourself.• The system is broken, and collectivism is a way to make capitalism work.• The messy, in-flux moments are when new players make the biggest leaps.• The tech part about AI isn't scary, it's who gets left behind as wealth concentrates.• Learning to share the stressful hot potato vs. carrying it alone.• Dialing everything to eleven teaches you about (the lack of) work/life balance.
Like this one? Follow Revenue Mind, and leave a review if it hit home. It’s how more revenue leaders find the show, and how we keep mental health right next to the number.
LinksConnect with Freddie Laker on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/freddielakerCollective Capitalism: collectivecapitalism.orgChameleon Collective: chameleoncollective.comConnect with Jolie Shapiro on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jolieshapiroCheck out Revenue Mind: revenuemind.co

From the number one enterprise rep at Salesforce to a self-described "functioning addict" living a double life at the top of his game, Ian Koniak traces how a 20-year work-hard-play-hard grind nearly cost him his marriage and his family, and what it finally took to get sober. Founder and CEO of Untap Your Sales Potential, Ian joins Jolie to riff on the president's-club culture he lived and loved, why "the pain of staying the same has to be greater than the effort to change," the rock bottom that turned him around, and how honesty, faith, and recovery rebuilt a life he's actually proud of. His message for anyone white-knuckling a secret: pick your poison, there's a 12-step for it, and the opposite of addiction is connection.
Key Takeaways• Ian was Salesforce's #1 enterprise rep while deep in addiction, and didn't think his life was unmanageable.• "Work hard, play hard" is a cycle: build up, build up, then blow up.• A functioning addict is still an addict: the sneaking and secrecy are the tell, not how often.• The real rock bottom wasn't a car crash or a stuck roller coaster: it was seeing the pain he'd caused someone he loves.• "The pain of staying the same has to be greater than the effort to change."• Honesty was the medicine: getting sober meant no more secrets, and the marriage got lighter for it.• Whatever your poison is (alcohol, weed, the phone, work), there's a 12-step for it. Start with the one that's unmanageable.• The opposite of addiction is connection: isolation and endless scrolling live on the same spectrum.• From greed and excess to service: his worth stopped riding on money and status.
Like this one? Follow Revenue Mind, and leave a review if it hit home. It’s how more revenue leaders find the show, and how we keep mental health right next to the number.
LinksConnect with Ian Koniak on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iankoniakUntap Your Sales Potential: untapyoursalespotential.comConnect with Jolie Shapiro on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jolieshapiroCheck out Revenue Mind: revenuemind.co