Training That Works

Rustin Schroeder | Host of Training That Works

Training That Works is the podcast for sales leaders who are tired of programs that don't move the number. Host Rustin Schroeder sits down with directors, VPs, and Chief Learning Officers to unpack what actually drives performance — from onboarding and sales enablement to leadership development and coaching at scale. Every episode is a real conversation with someone who has built and run training inside companies you know. No theory, no buzzwords, no recycled frameworks. Just the strategies, mistakes, and breakthroughs that separate training that checks a box from training that changes results. New episodes weekly. Subscribe and start building programs your people actually use.

  1. 6h ago

    Have an Opinion with Jen Allen-Knuth

    Eighteen years in sales, and she didn't want to share her opinion on what she actually thought.  Then everything changed. In this episode of Training That Works, Rustin Schroeder talks with Jen Allen-Knuth, founder of DemandJen, about why having an opinion beats sounding smart, and why the training that sticks is the training you actually do. Jen's unfair advantage isn't a flawless résumé. She spent 18 years carrying a bag, closed more than 50 million in revenue, rose to chief evangelist at Challenger, and built an audience of over 100,000 on LinkedIn. But her real edge is that she's just like the room she's speaking to. If you've ever felt you needed a book deal or a big exit before anyone would take you seriously, this conversation hands you a different, more honest path to authority and trust. What looked like a credibility problem turned out to be a courage problem. The turn came when someone asked Jen why a person with all that experience didn't have an opinion about anything. She'd been posting safe stats, terrified of being wrong in public. So she ripped the band-aid off, wrote honestly about losing her dad and what it taught her, and watched real connection replace the polished performance. That's when the audience, the stages, and the business followed. Here's the part most leaders quietly worry about: your training has slowly become a compliance exercise people forget the moment they leave the room. Jen makes the case for killing the theory and grounding every session in real accounts, so reps walk out with an email to send or a call to run instead of a worksheet to file. You'll learn how to build a voice people remember, run sales enablement and sales kickoffs that actually change behavior, and lead change by getting people off their old beliefs first. Listen in to learn how to stop sounding smart and start being memorable. Jen Allen-Knuth is the founder of DemandJen and a former chief evangelist at Challenger, now one of the most in-demand sales kickoff speakers. 🎙️ Training That Works — where top performers share what actually works. 🔥 Email Magic™ turns average communicators into credible, respected voices.  👉 email-magic.com

    Have an Opinion with Jen Allen-Knuth

  2. Jun 24

    Signal Through Noise with Ian Westbrook

    Most sales training quietly drifts away from the job it is supposed to teach. In this episode of Training That Works, Rustin Schroeder talks with Ian Westbrook, Head of Go-to-Market Enablement at Canva, about finding the signal through the noise when product velocity never slows down. Ian has an unfair advantage most enablement leaders do not. He carried a bag as an enterprise seller for years before he ever built a training program, so he knows exactly where training loses the room. At Canva, where new products and features ship at a relentless pace, his job is to cut signal through the noise and keep sellers focused on the customer's broken workflows instead of drowning them in feature lists. Listen and you walk away with a sharper way to make enablement actually change behavior. A mid-career move into an unfamiliar craft became the foundation of everything he does now. Ian almost left sales to become a data scientist, then walked through a different door into enablement at the Oracle Marketing Cloud. The seller became the systems architect, eventually building the first go-to-market process strategy and design organization at DocuSign. Along the way he picked up UX research, data analytics, and a systems view that treats training as one component inside a much larger machine of incentives and accountability. Here is the part most leaders will not say out loud. You keep buying tools and building courses, and the change still slides back to where it started by the next quarter. Ian draws a hard line between training that sounds good and training that actually sticks, and his answer for the difference is blunt. Buy-in and accountability are the primary predictors of whether anything lasts, and training only supports what those structures already hold in place. In this episode you will learn his six-step framework for large-scale change, why "process first" beats another tool in your stack, how conversation intelligence and AI role play are reshaping coaching, and how to keep training from drifting into an abstraction nobody connects to their actual job. Business leaders, sales enablement teams, and go-to-market executives will find a practical playbook for building training that drives adoption and keeps teams focused on what actually moves the business forward. Press play before you green-light another tool or another rollout. Ian Westbrook is Head of Go-to-Market Enablement at Canva and previously built the first go-to-market process strategy and design organization at DocuSign. 🎙️ Training That Works — where top performers share what actually works. 🔥 Email Magic™ turns average communicators into credible, respected voices.  👉 email-magic.com

    Signal Through Noise with Ian Westbrook

  3. May 5

    Build Authority Using Video with Scott Skibell

    Most leaders are quietly destroying their credibility every time they turn on a camera. In this episode of Training That Works, Rustin Schroeder talks with Scott Skibell about how video, when done right, becomes the fastest way to build authority, influence, and trust at scale. Scott spent six years at LinkedIn doing something almost no one else was doing in corporate training. He brought in live streaming gear, built his own role from scratch, and turned subject matter experts, product managers, and sales reps into on-camera talent who could deliver global training in 30 minutes. While most companies were still herding 100 people onto Zoom calls with bad audio and worse PowerPoints, Scott was producing TV-quality training that made rising leaders look like rockstars before they ever walked into a room. What started as a smarter way to deliver training turned into something much bigger. Scott realized the real product was credibility itself. The same principles that make a good video, clean delivery, looking at the camera, an authentic on-screen presence, are the same six principles Robert Cialdini wrote about in Influence. Authority. Social proof. Liking. Reciprocity. Scarcity. Commitment and consistency. Stack them, and you stop being someone who shares information and start being someone people actually follow. Here is the part most professionals will not say out loud. They know their Zoom presence is hurting them. They know the senior VP who fumbles a screen share loses the room. They know the salesperson firing off AI-generated emails sounds like every other salesperson firing off AI-generated emails. And they know that in a world about to be flooded with AI avatars and synthetic voices, the people who show up authentically on camera, using a prospect's name, referencing their actual situation, recording it themselves, are going to win the trust everyone else is busy automating away. In this episode you will learn how to build that on-camera presence, how to apply the six principles of influence in everything you record, and why personalized video is the single highest-leverage tool a seller or leader has right now. If you want people to stop scrolling past you and start trusting you, this is the episode. Scott Skibell, founder of Skillcasting and former senior video producer for LinkedIn's global learning organization. 🎙️ Training That Works — where top performers share what actually works. 🔥 Email Magic™ turns average communicators into credible, respected voices.  👉 email-magic.com

    Build Authority Using Video with Scott Skibell

  4. Mar 3

    Build Real Executive Power with Dr. Peter A. James

    In this episode of Training That Works, Rustin Schroeder talks with Dr. Peter A. James about what it really takes to build real executive power inside today’s organizations. After surviving three corporate layoffs during the 2008 recession, Peter faced a decision that most leaders avoid. Stay safe with a steady paycheck or step into uncertainty and design a career built on freedom, influence, and impact. What followed was a shift into executive coaching that transformed not only his own trajectory, but the leaders and organizations he now serves. From healthcare to pharma to technology, Peter helps executives strengthen morale, elevate culture, and drive measurable performance from the inside out. In this conversation, he breaks down why so many leaders get in their own way, how morale directly impacts customer experience and profitability, and why executive coaching is not a luxury but a competitive advantage. He shares the mindset required to make bold career moves, the discipline behind real leadership growth, and the uncomfortable questions that unlock clarity and authority at the top. If you are a business leader who wants more influence, stronger teams, and real organizational momentum, this episode will challenge you to think bigger and lead differently. 🎙️ Training That Works — where top performers share what actually works. 🔥 Email Magic™ turns average communicators into credible, respected voices.  👉 email-magic.com

    Build Real Executive Power with Dr. Peter A. James

  5. Feb 24

    Make Them Think or Don’t Teach with Lemar Ortiz

    In this episode of Training That Works, Rustin Schroeder talks with Lemar Ortiz about why most corporate training fails and what leaders must do differently if they actually want behavior change. Lemar pulls back the curtain on what he learned teaching middle school and why those same principles outperform most sales enablement programs today. He explains why information transfer is not training, why 10 percent of learning happens in the session itself, and why forcing participation is not optional if you want results. From calling on reps with cameras off to building sessions around behavioral outcomes instead of slide decks, he shares the exact mindset shift that separates effective trainers from time-wasters. They also dive into the 70-20-10 learning principle, how AI tools can accelerate enablement but not replace strong facilitation, and why trainers must stop treating adults like employees and start treating them like students. If you lead a sales team, run enablement, or want your training to actually change performance, this conversation will challenge the way you think about learning and development. This episode is a must-listen for sales leaders, enablement professionals, and business executives who are serious about building high-performing teams through effective training and measurable behavior change. 🎙️ Training That Works — where top performers share what actually works. 🔥 Email Magic™ turns average communicators into credible, respected voices.  👉 email-magic.com

    Make Them Think or Don’t Teach with Lemar Ortiz

  6. Feb 10

    Worth Buying with Kevin Salquist and Kurt Winter

    In this episode of Training That Works, Rustin Schroeder talks with Kevin Salquist and Kurt Winter about what actually makes a business worth buying and why most sellers misunderstand it. While everyone else is chasing software, AI, and the next big tech wave, Kevin and Kurt explain why they focus on old-school industrial and manufacturing companies that have quietly survived every major economic shock of the last 25 years. They break down how they evaluate acquisition targets through real-world filters like long-term resilience, communication with owners, margin structure, and whether a company truly has a moat or just looks good on paper. You’ll hear why 10 to 20 years of financial history matters more than flashy growth, how founders make mistakes without realizing it, and the subtle red flags that cause them to walk away from deals others would chase. The conversation also dives deep into training and leadership after an acquisition. Kevin and Kurt explain why most corporate training fails, why mentorship beats modules, and how culture gets destroyed when leaders roll out programs they didn’t help build. From spotting the 5 percent of true creators inside a company to deciding when someone simply doesn’t belong, this episode gives business leaders a rare look at how serious operators think when real money and real people are on the line. If you’re a founder preparing to sell, an investor looking to acquire, or a leader trying to build teams that actually perform, this episode will change how you think about what’s really worth buying… and what isn’t. 🎙️ Training That Works — where top performers share what actually works. 🔥 Email Magic™ turns average communicators into credible, respected voices.  👉 email-magic.com

    Worth Buying with Kevin Salquist and Kurt Winter

  7. Feb 3

    This Discipline Fuels Performance with Andrew Spennacchio

    In this episode of Training That Works, Rustin Schroeder talks with Andrew Spennacchio about the discipline that actually drives long-term performance in sales and leadership. Andrew reflects on early career pressure, couch hopping, learning SPIN selling before landing a job, and how having his back against the wall forced real ownership. Together, they unpack why most training fails, why mindset matters more than content, and how treating yourself like a sales opportunity changes how you grow. The conversation goes deeper into the often ignored link between physical health, mental clarity, and professional output. Andrew explains why energy, focus, and daily habits directly impact confidence, credibility, and execution. He shares how discipline outside of work shows up in performance at work, why hyper-focus beats constant consumption, and how teaching what you learn is the fastest way to master it. This episode is for sales leaders and business professionals who want sustainable performance, sharper thinking, and training that actually sticks. 🎙️ Training That Works — where top performers share what actually works. 🔥 Email Magic™ turns average communicators into credible, respected voices.  👉 email-magic.com

    This Discipline Fuels Performance with Andrew Spennacchio

  8. Jan 27

    How Elite Sellers Reset and Win with Kristine Maleri

    In this episode of Training That Works, Rustin Schroeder talks with Kristine Maleri about what really happens when even top performers have a brutal sales year… and how elite sellers reset, refocus, and win again. Kristine opens up about experiencing one of the toughest years of her 30-plus-year sales career, why tough years hit harder for high achievers, and the dangerous identity trap sellers fall into when the scoreboard isn’t in their favor. Drawing from her background as a competitive tennis player and decades in enterprise SaaS, Kristine breaks down how slumps actually form… the sneaky execution drift most sellers miss… and why fundamentals matter more when conditions are hardest. She shares practical frameworks for separating performance from identity, rebuilding momentum, doubling down on strengths, and using “workshopping the win” to replicate success instead of just analyzing losses. This conversation goes deep into how elite sellers think during adversity… how to fail fast without burning energy… how to qualify opportunities more honestly… and how intentional habits, repeatable excellence, and disciplined focus create predictable success. If you’ve ever questioned yourself after a down year or wondered how top sellers truly bounce back, this episode delivers a real-world playbook for turning setbacks into your next breakthrough. 🎙️ Training That Works — where top performers share what actually works. 🔥 Email Magic™ turns average communicators into credible, respected voices.  👉 email-magic.com

    How Elite Sellers Reset and Win with Kristine Maleri
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About

Training That Works is the podcast for sales leaders who are tired of programs that don't move the number. Host Rustin Schroeder sits down with directors, VPs, and Chief Learning Officers to unpack what actually drives performance — from onboarding and sales enablement to leadership development and coaching at scale. Every episode is a real conversation with someone who has built and run training inside companies you know. No theory, no buzzwords, no recycled frameworks. Just the strategies, mistakes, and breakthroughs that separate training that checks a box from training that changes results. New episodes weekly. Subscribe and start building programs your people actually use.

Information

  • Creator
    Rustin Schroeder | Host of Training That Works
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    69
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Training That Works
  • Show Website
    Training That Works