The Ty Brady Way

On this episode of The Ty Brady Way, Ty sits down with Michael Barbarita to talk about building businesses differently, learning from failure, and why copying your competition can be one of the biggest mistakes an entrepreneur makes. Michael shares his journey from growing Ski Town USA from $2.5 million to $8 million to building a successful cookie dough company, and then experiencing a business failure that completely changed the way he approached entrepreneurship. Michael breaks down the strategies that helped his successful businesses stand apart, including taking risk away from the customer, adding more value to an offer, and understanding the real problem your customer is trying to solve. He explains why competing on price is rarely the answer and why business owners should know what their competition is doing without becoming obsessed with following them. Ty and Michael also talk about the seven areas that drive the majority of revenue in a business, from generating quality leads and improving closing rates to client retention, increasing the average sale, and controlling costs. Michael explains why follow-up isn’t about bothering a potential customer when you truly believe in what you sell, and why selling the transformation your product creates matters more than simply selling the product itself. Michael also shares why some of the biggest breakthroughs happen when things aren’t going well, why entrepreneurs need to get comfortable being uncomfortable, and why believing in yourself and your product can change the way you handle risk, sales, and growth. His message is simple but powerful: stop doing exactly what everyone else in your industry is doing, understand the problem your customer actually needs solved, and have the confidence to build something different. Connect with Michael Barbarita: Learn more about Michael and Next Step CFO at nextstepcfo.net Download Michael’s book, Powerful Business Strategies, and access his free business diagnostic at nextstepcfo.net Connect with Michael on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michaelbarbarita As always, we would like to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Or DM us on Instagram @thetybradyway

On this episode of The Ty Brady Way, Ty sits down with Art Serna to talk about turning uncertainty into an advantage and building a life around purpose, service, and human flourishing. Art shares how growing up between Mexico and Texas shaped the way he sees opportunity, from watching his grandfather work as a farm worker who never learned to read to seeing his parents work tirelessly to build a better life for their family. Art opens up about learning to embrace being an outsider instead of seeing it as a weakness. He explains why outsiders often ask better questions, challenge assumptions, and see opportunities that others miss. Art also breaks down the three-horizon framework he uses to make decisions: what needs to happen today, what assumptions are changing around you, and what future deserves to exist. You’ll hear how this approach has helped him navigate leadership, entrepreneurship, education, healthcare, and the rapidly changing world of AI. Art also shares the deeply personal story behind his work with SpineHope and how helping his mom navigate breast cancer changed the direction of his life. Today, he’s helping expand access to complex pediatric spine surgery for children around the world while looking for new ways technology and unlikely partnerships can solve real human problems. His message is simple but powerful: don’t let being unknown, inexperienced, or outside the system stop you. Get clear on the future you want to help create, find the people who share that purpose, and start building. If you’ve ever wondered whether your unusual path might actually be your greatest advantage, this episode is for you. Connect with Art Serna: Learn more about Art and his book, The Unknowns Rising, at unknownsrising.com Learn more about SpineHope and its work at spinehope.org As always, we would like to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Or DM us on Instagram @thetybradyway

On this episode of The Ty Brady Way, Ty sits down with Chloe Williamson to talk about the power of human connection, betting on yourself, and why telling your story can be one of the most valuable things you do in business. Chloe shares how an unexpected career change during COVID led her into the podcasting world and eventually to her role as a Senior Client Success Strategist at Interview Valet, where she helps entrepreneurs get their message in front of the right audiences. Chloe opens up about what she has learned from working closely with entrepreneurs and why bigger isn’t always better when it comes to marketing. She explains why knowing your positioning matters more than simply getting in front of the largest possible audience, how entrepreneurs often confuse their ideal client with their target audience, and why long-form podcast conversations can create a level of trust that traditional advertising often can’t. Ty and Chloe also talk about leadership, failure, curiosity, and the importance of being willing to hear feedback. Chloe shares why slowing down has been one of the hardest lessons she has learned, how gratitude has helped her through difficult seasons, and why accepting failure is part of betting on yourself. You’ll also hear the story of a client who was convinced he knew exactly who his audience was until trying something completely different changed the direction of his marketing. Her message is simple but powerful: stay curious, be willing to try something new, and don’t let fear keep you from moving forward. Whether you’re building a business, growing your personal brand, or simply trying to figure out your next move, this conversation is a reminder that sometimes the biggest opportunities come when you’re willing to get out of your own way. Connect with Chloe Williamson: Learn more about Chloe and podcast interview marketing at interviewvalet.com/Chloe Connect with Chloe on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chloebwilliamson As always, we would like to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Or DM us on Instagram @thetybradyway

On this episode of The Ty Brady Way, Ty sits down with Kirk Driver to talk about leadership, decision-making, and what it takes to build teams that can perform under pressure. Kirk shares how his path took him from the Marine Corps and Desert Storm to more than two decades in law enforcement, eventually serving in leadership roles with the Fort Worth Police Department. After earning his MBA and preparing for retirement, Kirk initially thought security consulting would be his next chapter. It didn’t take long for him to realize his real passion was helping others become stronger leaders. Kirk breaks down one of the earliest leadership lessons that stuck with him: “mission, men, me.” Take care of the mission, take care of your people, and then make sure you’re taking care of yourself so you can continue showing up for the team. Ty and Kirk also talk about intent-based leadership and the difference between a mistake of the head and a mistake of the heart. Kirk explains why leaders should give good people room to make decisions, learn from honest mistakes, and take ownership instead of creating organizations where every decision has to go through the person at the top. The conversation gets into the importance of clear and consistent standards, including why leaders can’t make exceptions for top performers just because they produce results. Kirk also explains the three directions of leadership: leading the people below you, leading your peers, and having the courage to lead up when someone above you is making the wrong call. Kirk shares his “70% solution” for making difficult decisions, why waiting until you have every answer can lead to analysis paralysis, and why good leaders have to be willing to act, gather new information, and adjust along the way. He also opens up about the legacy he hopes to leave behind. For Kirk, leadership isn’t just about titles or results. It’s about planting seeds, encouraging people to keep growing, and helping them see possibilities in themselves they may not have seen before. Kirk closes with one of the most important lessons of the conversation: before you lead anyone else, get your own moral compass in check. Know what you stand for before the difficult decisions arrive. Connect with Kirk: Website: zerogray.com Instagram: @zerograyleadership Facebook: Zero Gray Leadership Email: [email protected] As always, we would like to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] 🎙️Or DM us on Instagram @thetybradyway

On this episode of The Ty Brady Way, Ty sits down with Danny Bobrow to talk about persuasion, emotional intelligence, leadership, and the power of listening. Danny brings lessons from sales, mediation, coaching, mountaineering, ski patrol, and other high-pressure environments where communication can quickly affect the outcome. Danny explains that people usually make decisions based on emotion and then justify those decisions with logic. The goal is not to remove emotion. It is to regulate your own emotions and communicate in a way that helps the other person feel safe enough to think clearly. Ty and Danny discuss what Danny calls patient persistence. You can remain committed to the outcome without forcing the conversation. Sometimes the best response is silence, patience, or simply giving someone time to process. Danny says listening and silence are closely connected, and both can keep a difficult conversation from escalating. The conversation also explores what is broken in many traditional sales and leadership models. Too many people believe they must always be closing, talking, proving their expertise, or overwhelming others with enthusiasm. Danny says this often creates what he calls the care gap and the trust gap. The care gap is the distance between how much you care and how much the other person feels that care. The trust gap appears when someone focuses on credentials and experience before showing that they truly understand the other person’s problem. Danny breaks effective communication into three Cs: caring, connection, and collaboration. Caring means showing genuine concern. Connection comes from listening, asking questions, and matching the other person’s pace. Collaboration means developing the solution together instead of telling someone what they should do. He also explains why enthusiasm can sometimes work against a salesperson. Excitement is most effective as a response, not an opening move. Before getting excited about the solution, you need to understand what matters to the person in front of you. Different personalities process information differently, and strong communicators adjust their pace, tone, and level of detail. You’ll also hear Danny explain why facts rarely change someone’s mind when they feel threatened. When a belief is closely tied to identity, adding more information can make the person more defensive. Questions, respect, and common ground are often more effective than debate. One of the biggest areas Danny sees people struggle with is listening. Many people believe they are listening when they are actually waiting to speak, comparing the story to their own experience, finishing sentences, offering solutions, or turning the conversation back toward themselves. Danny shares how these habits can quietly weaken relationships. Someone may talk about an injury, and the listener immediately responds with a worse injury of their own. Someone may mention an upcoming vacation, and the listener takes over by describing their past trip. These responses may be well intentioned, but they can leave the other person feeling unheard. Ty and Danny also talk about Danny’s own challenges. Danny was born with a serious vision impairment that affected his education, athletic ability, confidence, and relationships. He struggled in school until receiving reading glasses before college and later discovered that his brain often told him to quit long before his body needed to stop. That lesson helped him push past what he calls the psychological fatigue barrier. He went on to succeed in martial arts, mountaineering, and other demanding activities. Those experiences also taught him that persistence alone is not enough. He needed to become patiently persistent and respectfully resilient, especially when working with other people. The episode closes with Danny’s reminder that even high performers need coaching. A coach does not have to be better at your job than you are. They need to