April Martini and Anne Candido are co-founders of Forthright People, a leadership performance company that helps ambitious professionals build influence from the inside out. April is a certified life coach, TEDx speaker, U.S. Army veteran, and Procter & Gamble alum. Anne brings deep PR and brand strategy expertise from her work on household consumer brands. Together, they co-host The Strategic Counsel for Forthright Business podcast and have just released their new book, The Power of Your Personal Brand: A Playbook for Struggling Middle Managers Who Want to Do Big Things.

In this Expert Insight Interview with John Golden, April and Anne explain why the jump from doer to leader derails so many high achievers — and how deliberate personal branding becomes the competitive advantage that carries them through.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Why middle management is the career stage that breaks most playbooks
• The four-part framework: characteristics, appearance, behaviors, and actions
• How AI is reshaping what “searching yourself” actually means for your reputation
• Managing imposter syndrome when you start showing up differently
• The critical difference between a persona and a personal brand
• Where to start if you only have 20 minutes a day

Ready to stop letting other people define your brand? Book a free consultation at forthright-people.com.

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Cory Dunham is a values-driven executive advisor, keynote speaker, and co-owner of a 46-year-old family marketing firm, where he has spent four decades, from errand-runner to co-owner. He partners with founder-led service businesses to clarify their message, align their teams, and turn core values into bold, decisive action. In this Expert Insight Interview, Cory joins John Golden to unpack why so many service businesses quietly lose deals before the first sales call, and how leadership alignment — not another marketing campaign — is usually the missing piece.

In this episode, Cory and John cover:

• Why founder-led businesses broaden their scope and lose clarity on who they serve
• The real cost of sales-and-marketing misalignment (and how buyers feel it)
• How to turn personal and organizational values into consistent, decisive action
• Why buyers feel fear right after a purchase — and how follow-through builds lasting trust
• The “pilot’s course correction” principle for keeping growing teams aligned
• Why catching people doing things right is as important as correcting mistakes

Listen to the full conversation, then book a free consultation with Cory at corydunham.com to sharpen your messaging and align your team for growth.

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Jon Benson — the copywriter who invented the video sales letter format in 2010 and founder of BNSN AI — joins John Golden for a candid conversation about the marketer’s new reality. Marketing teams everywhere are caught between excitement and dread as AI takes over tasks that once filled entire roles. Jon argues that the real threat is not AI itself but the refusal to embrace it, and he lays out a practical path for marketers, copywriters, and founders who want to lead the shift rather than survive it.

Inside this episode:

• Why the AI adoption window is months, not years, like the internet rollout
• How one person now ships in 48 hours what teams used to ship in quarters
• The collapse of the SaaS model and the rise of MCP-connected agents
• Why value-based copywriting converts better than any prompt hack
• How trained marketers become conductors of AI agents instead of being replaced by them
• The free Buyer Profile tool that maps the exact words your ideal customer responds to

Ready to partner with AI instead of fear it? Grab Jon’s free Buyer Profile and explore BNSN AI at bnsn.ai.

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Justin Goodbread is a globally recognized business strategist, keynote speaker, and founder of Relentless Value Coaching. He has built, scaled, and successfully exited seven companies across multiple industries — including a Registered Investment Advisor firm that reached an eight-figure enterprise value in under four years. In this Sales POP! Expert Insight Interview, Justin joins John Golden to unpack why most service-based founders end up trapped inside their own businesses, and how the Relentless Framework helps them build companies a buyer will actually pay premium money for.

Topics covered in this episode:

• The “epicenter trap” that turns a dream business into a prison
• How to tell whether you are the bottleneck inside your own company
• The five steps of the Relentless Framework: Foundation, Examination, Execution, Exit, and Freedom
• Using the DISC model to sequence delegation the right way
• Why 60–80% execution quality from your team is enough
• The identity question that explains why only 4% of owners are happy after selling

Justin gives founders a clear path from operator to owner — and from owner to an exit that actually leaves them free. Book a free consultation at justingoodbread.com.

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Laura Kriska is the founder of We Building Solutions and a globally recognized expert on building trust across cultural, language, and organizational divides. The first American woman to work inside Honda Motor Company’s Tokyo headquarters, Laura has spent 30 years helping Fortune 500 companies across four continents turn fragmented teams into united “we” cultures. In this Expert Insight Interview, she joins John Golden to explain why the most damaging divides inside organizations are invisible — and what leaders can do to dismantle them before they erode deadlines, revenue, and retention.

In this episode, Laura covers:

• The invisible us-vs-them divides are draining performance inside most companies
• The four stages of trust: stranger, acquaintance, colleague, trusted colleague
• Why demarcation-first cultures quietly kill collaboration
• The role of superordinate goals in forcing teams to cooperate
• How hybrid work has stalled trust-building — and how to restart it
• Why in-person time must be strategic, not social, to be worth the travel
• The leadership consistency that earns a “we” culture

Ready to turn your team divides into a competitive advantage? Learn more about Laura’s work and book a consultation at laurakriska.com.

Visit us on Apple Podcast. You can also find SalesPOP! on all major podcast stations.

Derek De Vette is Co-Founder and Head of Strategic Communications at Halo Communications, where his team has spent three decades building visibility for brands ranging from enterprise tech to Harley-Davidson. In this Expert Insight Interview, Derek joins John Golden to explain why the old PR playbook — chase cover stories, rack up impressions, measure vanity metrics — no longer moves the sales growth needle. AI answer engines now decide which brands get surfaced, and they reward the most trusted source, not the loudest one. Derek walks through fresh data on how ChatGPT and Claude cite publications, why niche trade outlets now outperform marquee placements, and how founders can compress the runway from first PR mention to closed revenue.

Topics covered in this episode:

• The “vanity trap” in PR and why chasing fame kills the pipeline
• Why 94% of AI-cited links come from non-paid media
• How ChatGPT leans on mainstream outlets while Claude favors niche publications
• The shift from “competing for clicks” to “competing to be the answer.”
• A practical audit for mapping the AI engines your buyers actually use
• Using AI as a collaborator, not a replacement, for PR and sales strategy

Listen in for an actionable conversation on how to make your brand the cited source inside AI answers, then visit Halo Communications Agency to book a free consultation with Derek’s team.

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Antoniette Roze is the CEO of WPC Global and the host of Speak Pact, a done-for-you booking agency that helps six- and seven-figure experts stop chasing speaking gigs and start filling their calendars with consistent, high-value opportunities. In this Expert Insight Interview, she joins John Golden to explain why most speakers treat the stage like a lottery — and what it actually takes to build a serious, scalable speaking business that produces predictable revenue.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why a real speaking practice demands a business-grade strategy, not guesswork
• How to position as the go-to expert (the “purple cow” principle)
• Realistic timelines: why a three-year runway beats quitting at six months
• Marketing to the check-signer, not just the audience
• One talk, ten audiences — the language rule that wins corporate gigs
• Healed scars vs. open wounds — storytelling that converts

If you are ready to move from lottery to leverage, take Antoniette’s free Speaker Fit assessment at speakpact.com and see what your speaking career could look like with a real system behind it.

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Jessica Rhodes is the Founder of Interview Connections, the world’s first podcast booking agency, launched in 2013. In 2020 she hired her first sales reps to scale the company — and spent six years trying to make the model work before dismantling it. In this Expert Insight Interview, Jessica walks through the friction between commission-driven selling and a consultative service, why she now takes every sales call herself, and how the shift strengthened client fit, retention, and cohesion between her sales and delivery teams.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Why a sales team model broke down for a consultative podcast booking service
• How to qualify wrong-fit prospects out before quoting a price
• The friction between closing commissions and protecting client outcomes
• What founder-led selling unlocked for company harmony and retention
• Why does not every part of your business have to be scalable right now
• Managing realistic expectations for podcast guesting — from small shows to Joe Rogan

Connect with Jessica and learn more about working with her team at interviewconnections.com.

Visit us on Apple Podcast. You can also find SalesPOP! on all major podcast stations.