Ep 411: How to Protect Your Time Without Becoming a Jerk

“Got a minute?” Those three words are quietly draining your business. In this episode, I break down why five minute meetings are the most expensive thing on your calendar. They fragment your focus, destroy strategic thinking, and send you into what I call the productivity death spiral.

You’ll learn how context switching kills performance, how interruptions secretly cost you revenue, and how to retrain your team to respect structure without becoming the “unapproachable” leader. If you want deeper work, higher quality decisions, and more revenue without working longer hours, this one is mandatory.

Featured Guest: Michael LeJeune Company: Partner, RSM Federal
Email: mlejeune@rsmfederal.com Phone: (636)-577-5005
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EP 410: Building a Startup in a Small Town – Why You Don’t Need a Big City to Win

What if building your business in a small town is actually an advantage?

In this episode, I sit down with Lauren Mullins, co-founder of Personality Pool, to talk about what startup life really looks like outside of big cities and venture-capital hype. We unpack the real pros and cons of building a company in a smaller community, from cost of living and mental health to networking challenges and unexpected opportunities.

Lauren also shares how her own hiring struggles inspired Personality Pool, a video-based screening platform designed to help businesses hire for culture and personality, not just resumes.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you need to move to a big city to grow your business, or how to build something meaningful exactly where you are, this episode will challenge a lot of assumptions.

This one’s honest, practical, and refreshingly real.
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Featured Guest: Lauren Glass Mullins Company: Co-Founder, Personality Pool
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Ep 409: Cups and Chaos: Why Every Dream Deserves a Fair Fight

What do you do when everyone around you tells you your idea is ridiculous?

In this episode, Michael LeJeune shares a hilarious but powerful story from a recent small business conference that sparked the unexpected creation of “Cups and Chaos,” a fictional drive-through coffee shop featuring baby raccoons. What started as a joke quickly turned into a lesson about vision, courage, and why most people abandon their dreams far too early.

Michael breaks down why big ideas almost always sound crazy at first, why employees and institutions resist risk, and how momentum and belief can transform ridicule into opportunity. If you’ve ever let doubt, fear, or other people’s opinions stop you from pursuing something meaningful, this episode is a reminder that every dream deserves a fair fight.

Featured Guest: Michael LeJeune Company: Partner, RSM Federal
Email: mlejeune@rsmfederal.com Phone: (636)-577-5005
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EP 408: Why Your Best Technical People Hate Proposals (And How to Fix It)

Technical SMEs are critical to winning government contracts, yet many dread proposal work. In this episode, Michael LeJeune sits down with Dawn Ward, former technical lead on $100M contracts and founder of Trusted Insight, to unpack why engineers resist proposals and how leaders can change that.

You’ll learn how poor onboarding, unclear expectations, and lack of feedback create frustration, and what to do instead. Dawn shares real-world stories, practical frameworks, and leadership strategies to turn proposal participation into an engaging, high-impact experience for technical teams. If you want better proposals, stronger collaboration, and higher win rates without burning out your best people, this conversation is a must-listen.
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Featured Guest: Dawn Ward Company: CEO, TrustedInsight
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Ep 407: Own the Room Before You Say a Word

Public speaking isn’t just for keynote stages, it’s a foundational life skill.

In this episode, Michael LeJeune breaks down practical, real-world strategies to become a more confident and effective speaker, whether you’re presenting on stage, leading a meeting, selling, or simply communicating ideas clearly. You’ll learn how to own the room before you say a word, why stories outperform data, how to trim your message so it lands, and how to use your voice as an instrument instead of a monotone delivery system.

Michael also explains how to structure talks around heroes and villains, why slides should be on a strict diet, and how to practice in a way that builds lasting confidence. If you want to stand out in business and in life, this episode gives you tools you can use immediately.

Featured Guest: Michael LeJeune Company: Partner, RSM Federal
Email: mlejeune@rsmfederal.com Phone: (636)-577-5005
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