Leaders & Legacies

Craig Andrews
  • 4.9 (108)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

The Leaders & Legacies Podcast celebrates leaders who are making a difference beyond themselves. It was inspired from events in 2021 when the host, Craig Andrews went into a 6-week coma. Even after waking up, his brain was scrambled for another two weeks. When his mind cleared, his wife started telling him how his team stepped up and ran the company without him. Freelancers reached out to his team and offered to do whatever was necessary while he was in the hospital. Craig believes we all make an impact greater than we realize and wants to honor owners and founders as they lead others. Craig Andrews is the founder and Principal Ally at allies4me. He’s been in the marketing space for more than two decades and has driven over a half-billion dollars of revenue. He’s spoken on dozens of podcast as well as conferences including Conversion Conference.

  1. 9h ago

    285 - Why Product-First Selling Breaks High-Trust Pipeline with Steve Wallace

    Too many leaders say they sell through relationships, then walk into the next discovery call and make the product the center of the room. The result is a pipeline full of pressure, weak referrals, and prospects who can feel they are being processed instead of understood. Steve Wallace, CEO of Back to Basics Revenue Company / B2B Rev, learned that lesson in one of the hardest sales classrooms: 100% commission financial services. Early success led him toward bigger opportunities, but poor guidance and product-first training pushed him into chasing whales before he had built the trust, discipline, and consultative skill those opportunities required. That experience became a turning point in how he thinks about revenue. In this episode, Steve and Craig break down the difference between transactional selling and relational selling in a way that matters for high-trust services. The wrong discovery call starts with what you sell. The right one diagnoses who the person is, what they need now, what they may need later, and who else belongs in their business ecosystem. Steve argues that every relationship can be leveraged in a positive way, but only when leaders stop treating every person as a lead and start building a curated network of professionals they can confidently introduce. Craig brings in a Marine marksmanship analogy: even when the business target is growth, the focus has to stay on the front sight post. In sales, that means serving the person in front of you. Steve closes the loop with a leadership point many founders avoid: delegate operations and admin so your highest-value time goes toward listening, influence, meetings, vision, sales, and marketing. Want to learn more about Steve Wallace's work? Check out his website at http://b2brev.co. Connect with Steve Wallace on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevewallace-b2brevco/. Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply at https://podcast.allies4me.com/podcast-guest/. Want to learn more about Craig Andrews' work at allies4me? Check out his website at https://allies4me.com/. You can also reach Steve directly at steve@b2brev.co.

  2. Jul 30

    284 - Build Your Brand and Media Presence with Ted Jenkin

    Most leaders say they want a stronger brand, but many still judge every decision by this quarter’s direct ROI. That tension runs through Craig’s conversation with Ted Jenkin, President of ESL Advisors: the businesses that become memorable rarely do it by copying the industry playbook or measuring only the fastest return. Ted shares how Oxygen Financial grew by going after the market most financial firms were ignoring. While the industry chased baby boomers, Ted built for Gen X and Gen Y clients with a different experience, a different environment, and a different message. The lesson is bigger than financial services: if your business looks and sounds like everyone else, you are mathematically limiting yourself to average. Craig and Ted also dig into communication as a leadership advantage. Ted explains why media success is not just about getting booked once, but learning how to write, produce, and deliver clear segments that make producers want to bring you back. The same discipline applies inside a company: leaders who can simplify the message, package the idea, and keep moving after feedback get better faster. The conversation closes with Ted’s “true North” framework. Goals define North, setbacks pull you South, and distractions drag you East and West. Ted’s challenge to leaders is to recover quickly, manage expectations clearly, and keep asking whether today’s actions are moving the business closer to what actually matters. Learn more about Ted Jenkin and ESL Advisors at https://esladvisors.com/. Connect with Ted Jenkin on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/theceoadvisor. Learn more about Craig Andrews and allies4me at https://allies4me.com/. Apply to be a guest on Leaders & Legacies at https://podcast.allies4me.com/podcast-guest/.

  3. Jul 23

    283 - Financial Clarity, Operating Discipline, and the Business That Runs Without You

    Too many business owners build companies that depend on them for every important decision, every customer save, every operational fix, and every financial answer. The business may be profitable, but it still feels fragile. It owns the owner instead of the other way around. In this episode, Craig talks with Rob Johnson and Steve Thornton about how financial clarity and operating discipline work together to create a stronger business. Rob brings the financial lens: cash flow, forecasting, capital risk, and the enterprise value decisions owners often postpone. Steve brings the operating lens: leadership teams, process, execution, and reducing the owner dependency that keeps companies stuck. Rob and Steve explain why enterprise value is not just a sale price. A more transferable business is more valuable to buyers, but it is also more valuable to the owner who keeps it. Better systems, clearer analytics, stronger leadership, and less dependence on one indispensable person can improve profitability, reduce stress, and give the owner real choice. The conversation is ultimately about freedom. Whether an owner wants to sell, transition to the next generation, become less operational, or simply enjoy the company again, the path requires both numbers and execution. A business that can run without the owner is not just more scalable and predictable. It is more livable. Learn more about Sabre Financial Group at https://www.sabre-financial.com/. Learn more about APEX Management Partners at https://www.apex-mgt.com/index. Connect with Rob Johnson on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertejohnson1/. Connect with Steve Thornton on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevethorntonmba/. Learn more about Craig Andrews and allies4me at https://allies4me.com/. Apply to be a guest on the podcast at https://podcast.allies4me.com/podcast-guest/.

  4. Jul 16

    282 - The CFO Who Helps You Say Yes with Fred Kosnac

    Revenue can make a business owner feel like the company is winning, even while cash, margin, and operational drag are quietly telling a different story. In this episode, Craig Andrews talks with Fred Kosnac about why growth without financial context can create blind spots, especially for owners who are moving fast and trying to make decisions from incomplete numbers. Fred pushes back on the idea that a CFO is just the “chief no officer” or a glorified accountant. The best financial leaders help owners understand what the numbers mean, how they connect to the company’s goals, and how to make investments, hires, and growth decisions without putting the business at risk. Craig and Fred dig into the gap between historical reporting and forward-looking leadership. Fred explains why numbers alone do not tell the full story, how context changes the meaning of revenue and profitability, and why a business owner needs someone who can translate financial statements into decisions that actually move the company forward. They also explore what happens when growth exposes hidden problems, from delayed billing to margin pressure to cash constraints. Fred shares how Crystal Oak CFOs & Advisors helps owners build a clearer rhythm around sales, margins, profitability, cash, budgets, and forecasts so growth becomes more sustainable instead of more stressful. Want to learn more about Fred Kosnac's work? Check out his website at https://www.crystaloakcfo.com/. Connect with Fred Kosnac on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/fred-kosnac-cpa/. You can also reach Fred directly at fred@crystaloakcfo.com. Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply at https://podcast.allies4me.com/podcast-guest/. Want to learn more about Craig Andrews' work at allies4me? Check out his website at https://allies4me.com/.

  5. Jul 9

    281 - Your Best AI Strategy May Already Be Inside Your Business with Stephan Bajaio

    AI has made search feel new again, but Stephan Bajaio warns leaders not to mistake new acronyms for a new strategy. Whether people call it SEO, AEO, GEO, or AI search, the real question is still whether your market can find useful, credible answers from you and about you. Chasing a mention inside ChatGPT or Claude is a shaky substitute for understanding what your customers need and what the web is already saying. In this episode of Leaders & Legacies, Craig talks with Stephan, CEO and Co-Founder of VibeLogic, about why companies often overlook the intelligence already sitting inside the business. Sales calls, support tickets, chat logs, legal review threads, and customer questions can reveal the exact problems buyers care about. What looks like a bullet point on your website may be someone else’s entire reason to buy. Stephan also separates AI leverage from AI fantasy. AI can help leaders change formats, test ideas, and turn long content into tools people will actually use. But it is not push-button expertise. Like Craig’s example of putting a non-driver in an F1 car, AI may help you move faster, but the judgment still comes from the person steering. The conversation closes with a look at where search is heading: toward agents, proactive recommendations, and systems that connect dots before a user types a query. That future still depends on what can be learned, verified, and trusted. For leaders, the work is not to panic over AI rankings. It is to make sure the right signals exist across the places where customers, platforms, and intelligent systems form opinions. Want to learn more about Stephan Bajaio’s work? Check out VibeLogic at https://www.vibelogic.com/. Connect with Stephan Bajaio on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanbajaio/. Think you’d be a great guest on the show? Apply at https://podcast.allies4me.com/podcast-guest/. Want to learn more about Craig Andrews’ work at allies4me? Check out his website at https://allies4me.com/.

  6. Jul 2

    280 - Private-Equity-Grade Finance for Owner-Led Companies with Salvatore Tirabassi

    Most business owners do not need prettier dashboards. They need financial reporting that helps them make better decisions, faster. In this episode of Leaders & Legacies, Craig talks with Salvatore Tirabassi about what founder-led and family-owned companies often miss in their finance function. Sal explains why useful reporting starts with a single source of truth, not another spreadsheet or visual layer on top of messy data. The conversation centers on bringing private-equity-grade finance to businesses that are not ready to hire a full executive team. That means practical reporting, forecasting, calculators, and workflows that help owners see what is really happening in the business. Sal also makes the case that reporting should not consume the month. When the process is built correctly, owners spend less time compiling numbers and more time analyzing what the numbers mean. Craig and Sal get into the metrics owners should understand cold: minimum cash, revenue, EBITDA, customer acquisition cost, customer lifetime value, employee tenure, and turnover. These numbers are not just finance trivia. They shape hiring, growth, cash decisions, and the owner’s ability to see risk early. They also discuss why a missed acquisition-cost target should not end with vague disappointment. The better question is where the funnel broke, what caused the miss, and what needs to change before more money gets poured into the same system. Want to learn more about Salvatore Tirabassi's work? Check out his website at https://cfoproanalytics.com/. Connect with Salvatore Tirabassi on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stirabassi/. You can also reach Salvatore directly at stirabassi@cfoproanalytics.com. Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply at https://podcast.allies4me.com/podcast-guest/.

  7. Jun 25

    279 - Stop Treating Your Business Lawyer Like a Vending Machine with Matt Bracy

    Matt Bracy helps business owners make better legal decisions before those decisions become expensive problems. As a partner at Scheef & Stone, former litigator, former general counsel, and corporate business lawyer, Matt brings the perspective of someone who has both provided and purchased legal services. In this episode, Matt explains why business owners often misuse legal counsel by treating lawyers like vending machines: show up, pay money, demand a document, and disappear again. He makes the case for using a business lawyer as a contextual advisor who understands your company, your priorities, your risk tolerance, and where you are trying to go. Matt also covers how to choose the right lawyer, why vague contracts create litigation risk, and how middle-market founders can control legal costs without cutting corners on the issues that matter. Want to learn more about Matt Bracy's work? Visit Scheef & Stone at http://www.solidcounsel.com. Connect with Matt Bracy on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattbracy/. You can also reach Matt directly at matt.bracy@solidcounsel.com. Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply at https://podcast.allies4me.com/podcast-guest/. Want to learn more about Craig Andrews' work at allies4me? Check out his website at https://allies4me.com/.

  8. Jun 18

    278: Scaling Without Breaking the Business with Gary Leeman

    Gary Leeman helps leadership teams break through the ceilings that stall growth. As a Professional EOS Implementer with EOS Worldwide and a former integrator and COO, he brings a practical operator's perspective to the messy moment when a company has outgrown improvisation but has not yet built the structure needed to scale. In this episode, Gary shares how living in Ireland reshaped his view of pace and culture, why intentional cultures stay recognizable even as companies grow, and where scaling businesses most often go wrong. He explains the EOS idea of "right people, right seats," warns against designing roles around whoever happens to be available, and makes the case that consistency and accountability become essential once a company is ready to scale. Want to learn more about Gary Leeman's work? Visit his EOS Worldwide profile at https://implementer.eosworldwide.com/gary-leeman/. Connect with Gary Leeman on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyleeman/. You can also reach Gary directly at gary.leeman@eosworldwide.com or 469-816-4369. Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply at https://podcast.allies4me.com/podcast-guest/. Want to learn more about Craig Andrews' work at allies4me? Check out https://allies4me.com/.

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4.9
out of 5
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About

The Leaders & Legacies Podcast celebrates leaders who are making a difference beyond themselves. It was inspired from events in 2021 when the host, Craig Andrews went into a 6-week coma. Even after waking up, his brain was scrambled for another two weeks. When his mind cleared, his wife started telling him how his team stepped up and ran the company without him. Freelancers reached out to his team and offered to do whatever was necessary while he was in the hospital. Craig believes we all make an impact greater than we realize and wants to honor owners and founders as they lead others. Craig Andrews is the founder and Principal Ally at allies4me. He’s been in the marketing space for more than two decades and has driven over a half-billion dollars of revenue. He’s spoken on dozens of podcast as well as conferences including Conversion Conference.

Information

  • Creator
    Craig Andrews
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    285
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Craig Andrews
  • Show Website
    Leaders & Legacies