Fix My Fees

Fix My Fees
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Every leader has a story worth hearing. On the Fix My Fees podcast, we sit down with bold thinkers, builders, and industry pioneers to uncover the real moments that shaped them... The wins, the failures, the lessons learned the hard way. Whether you're just starting out or leading at the highest level, each episode is a masterclass in what it actually takes to succeed. New conversations. Timeless wisdom.

  1. Aug 12

    If No One Says No to Your Price, It's Too Low | Laura Berman Fortgang | Fix My Fees Ep. 43

    Laura Berman Fortgang was a broke actress and waitress who never cleared $36,000 a year. Then she got depressed, called an old mentor, and stumbled into a profession that barely existed yet. Thirty years later she's logged more than 20,000 coaching hours, helped found the International Coaching Federation, written six books published in 13 languages, and pulled 2 million views on a TEDx talk that still brings her clients today. In this episode she breaks down the CFO who got a global promotion by going to fewer meetings, the coach who spent 20 years stuck below six figures until he built systems, and the pricing test that tells you exactly when it's time to raise your fees. Plus the line that should be on every business owner's wall: consistency beats perfection. What you'll learn: • How to know when your fees are too low (hint: it's about who isn't pushing back) • Why hiring help before you can afford it is a growth strategy, not a risk • The difference between coaching and advice — and why most "coaches" are just giving advice • How a CFO earned a global promotion by cutting his own calendar • Why imposter syndrome is cured by action, never by thinking harder • How to leverage a book to raise your speaking, coaching, and consulting fees • What AI will and won't take from the coaching industry Chapters 00:00 Meet Laura Berman Fortgang 01:54 From waitressing and Broadway auditions to coaching 04:20 Writing six books and knowing when you have another one in you 06:29 How the coaching industry changed — and got saturated 08:41 Coaching isn't advice, it's diagnosis 09:17 The TEDx talk that hit 2 million views 10:55 What her days actually look like 12:04 Case study: the CFO who got promoted by skipping meetings 13:20 Case study: 20 years in business, finally past six figures 16:38 The biggest misconception about spending money to make money 19:05 What leaders miss about acknowledgment and culture 21:04 How to leverage a book into higher fees 22:25 The real cure for imposter syndrome 25:22 When and how to raise your fees 27:00 Building a business that survives your life 32:19 Consistency beats perfection 33:48 What AI does to the coaching industry Connect with Laura: LauraBermanFortgang.com — coaching, free newsletter, and her A-List Coach program Got a business worth talking about? Email tavious@fixmyfees.team — we're always looking for operators with a real story. Keep more. Grow more. Live better. FixMyFees.com · @fixmyfees

  2. Aug 12

    What Ignoring Your Gut Actually Costs You | Siddiqi Ray | Fix My Fees Ep. 42

    Siddiqi Ray spent 30 years behind a camera — the first woman on staff at the Associated Press, at Mayo Clinic, at Target. She photographed the Dalai Lama 15 times on three continents. She shot underwater for the Navy SEALs. And every single one of those jobs came from a gut feeling she couldn't explain. Then in March 2020, that same feeling told her to get out of Los Angeles. She got on the last plane New Zealand let in before the borders closed, and got stuck there for two and a half years. In this episode, Tavious sits down with Siddiqi to talk about the thing nobody in business wants to say out loud: the hire everyone had a bad feeling about, the spreadsheet that looked off, the deal that felt wrong on paper it shouldn't have. She calls the cost of overriding that signal the "I knew it tax" — and she's got the receipts, including a client who lost $3.2 million two weeks after her financial advisor talked her out of a gut call. This isn't woo. Siddiqi breaks down the actual research, the documentation method she teaches executives, and the nervous-system work she learned from the Navy SEALs to go from random hunches to on-demand access. In this episode: Why ignoring your gut has a real, measurable line-item costHow to tell the difference between intuition and anxietyThe documentation habit that turns a hunch into a track record you can defend in a boardroomWhy the NASA O-ring engineers all "knew," and said nothingHow she went from world-renowned photographer to advising leaders full time Chapters 00:00 – Intro 01:36 – The mission: 10,000 women leaders 02:42 – What "Siddiqi" actually means 05:28 – Intuition is a muscle, not a gift 06:51 – The #1 mistake people make 08:17 – The $3.2 million "I knew it tax" 10:48 – The science, and how to spot your own signal 13:40 – Intuition vs. fear vs. anxiety 18:43 – How this shows up at work: bad hires, bad numbers, NASA 22:09 – Why we need a shared language for it 23:47 – The Dalai Lama, the Navy SEALs, the Kennedys 28:28 – The check that said "cat psychic" 30:15 – The last flight into New Zealand 35:06 – The SEAL breathing method for high-stakes decisions 37:15 – What she wishes everyone knew 38:33 – Off the clock: grills, dogs, and the best ceviche in New Zealand Connect with Siddiqi Ray Free Intuitive IQ quiz: SiddiqiRay.com Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook: @SiddiqiRay Got an interesting business? Reach out to Tavious at Tavious@fixmyfees.com — we'd love to have you on. Keep more. Grow more. Live better. FixMyFees.com · @fixmyfees

  3. Aug 12

    She Took a Receptionist Job to Spy on the Company | Sheela Abdi | Fix My Fees Ep. 41

    Sheela Abdi took a three-day temp receptionist gig for one reason: to scope out a company from the inside before deciding whether she wanted to work there. Three days later she walked into the CFO's office and said, "I'm not a receptionist." She left as their HR Director. That's the whole personality of this episode. Sheela is a senior people operations executive with 20+ years across music, entertainment, streaming, and beer — Bug Music/BMG, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Insomniac, Live Nation, Pluto TV through its exit — and she's spent that entire career refusing to be the version of HR everyone expects. Today she runs Limitless HR Group, a fractional people operations team that gives business owners a full HR department without the headcount. Host Tavious Washington digs into why the companies that want HR least are usually the ones bleeding money without it, what actually changes when culture becomes a line item, and why "no" should almost always be followed by "but." In this episode: • Why "no, but — can I show you this?" beats a compliance lecture every time • The transferable skills you already have and can't see in yourself • When a growing business should actually bring in HR (hint: earlier than you think) • Scaling Pluto TV to an exit, and what the founder wanted repeated at his next company • The Zen Zone she built for EDC Vegas staff on almost no budget — and the headliner who wandered in by accident • Undercharging, executive coaching, and learning to believe her own numbers • Fractional HR: the whole department, none of the overhead or liability Chapters 00:00 — Not your typical HR guest 01:51 — What Limitless HR actually does 03:07 — The companies that don't want HR need it most 06:31 — "No, but" — finding another route to the same outcome 07:32 — The client who leaned over her desk and said "you hate this" 09:02 — The transferable skills she didn't know she had 11:43 — 2008, layoffs, and landing in entertainment 12:49 — The receptionist recon mission 14:50 — Becoming an acquisition-side HR executive 15:27 — Pabst Blue Ribbon, Insomniac, and companies that don't want HR 17:10 — The biggest misconceptions about HR 19:16 — When should a business bring in HR? 20:00 — Scaling Pluto TV to exit, then building Telly from day two 22:53 — Sturdy, and building culture for creatives 31:47 — The Zen Zone at EDC Vegas 36:04 — Why she leads with people instead of numbers 37:33 — Learning to charge what the work is worth 40:15 — Who she is when the business hat comes off 46:54 — Who should be calling Limitless HR 49:10 — What a fractional HR department actually gets you Connect with Sheela Abdi Limitless HR Group → https://www.limitlesshrgroup.com Email → sheela@limitlesshrgroup.com or info@limitlesshrgroup.com Men's mental health nonprofit → https://www.amindspursuit.org Fix My Fees Merchant services is boring. The people in business aren't. Every week, Tavious Washington sits down with operators who did something interesting and asks how they actually did it. Website → https://www.FixMyFees.com Want to be a guest? → tavious@fixmyfees.com Instagram → @fixmyfees Keep more. Grow more. Live better.

  4. Aug 12

    Make Retirement the Most Brilliant Chapter | Dale Power | Fix My Fees Ep. 40

    Every retirement message you've ever seen is about money. Plan your finances, plan your estate, you're good to go. Dale Power spent 25 years as a marketing consultant watching business owners sell, cash out, and then hit a wall about six months later — golf, travel, dinners with friends, and then a Tuesday morning with nothing on the calendar and no idea what comes next. The part nobody warns you about isn't financial. It's that you're going through three massive transitions at once, and one of them is losing the entire community you spent 30 years inside of. Dale is the founder of Share Your Courage and creator of Reimagine Retirement, a small-group program that helps people design the chapter after the exit. In this episode she breaks down when to actually start planning (hint: the moment you first hear yourself say "maybe in a couple years"), why "service" is far bigger than volunteer work, and the tiny-experiments approach that lets you test a new life without committing to it. In this episode: • Why the six-month honeymoon ends and what replaces it • The phone call Dale got decades later: "You saved my life" • The financial planner who sold his firm and watched his community stay behind • When to start planning your exit — earlier than you think • Why service is the core of meaning, and why most people define it too narrowly • The 84-year-old engineer who's busier now than in his career • Tiny experiments: how to test a new chapter without a full commitment • Why planning this alone is the hardest way to do it ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 Intro 01:28 25 years of watching owners drift after the sale 03:07 The phone call: "You saved my life" 04:02 Why she started Share Your Courage 05:45 The community you lose when you exit 08:00 When should you actually start planning? 08:45 Why more runway means more options 10:16 The 84-year-old who never slowed down 11:50 Service is bigger than volunteer work 12:43 The boredom nobody warns you about 14:19 Sixth graders pitching real businesses 16:03 Why eight people in a room beats planning alone 17:21 The one thing she wishes everyone knew 19:32 Tiny experiments: test before you commit 22:00 Make this the most brilliant chapter 25:26 Who this is for and how to start 28:03 Community gardens, Eagle Scouts, and six years as a clown Connect with Dale Power 🌐 shareyourcourage.com 📧 dale@shareyourcourage.com About Fix My Fees Merchant processing is boring — so we bring on interesting people instead. Real conversations with business owners and experts about building something that lasts. 💚 Keep more. Grow more. Live better. 🌐 FixMyFees.com 📩 Want to be on the show? tavious@fixmyfeesteam.com 📱 @fixmyfees

  5. Aug 12

    Stop Applying Online If You Want the Job | Chris Berta | Ep. 39

    Recruiters are staring at 200 resumes that all look identical — because everyone's using the same AI prompt. Here's how to not be one of them. Chris Berta has spent 20+ years placing executives at Amazon, Microsoft, PayPal, Expedia, Disney, and DuckDuckGo — he's filled most of DuckDuckGo's exec suite over the years. He knows exactly why your application is disappearing, and what companies should be doing differently on the other side of it. WHAT YOU'LL GET: - Why the shotgun approach died the moment ChatGPT showed up - The sniper method — five companies, one human contact each, zero online applications - How to write a resume that tells a story instead of listing bullets - Why a Microsoft person often fails at Amazon, and what that means for your own hires - How to make your application process hard enough to filter out the bots - What "comfortable with AI" actually means to a hiring manager right now - The equity math that almost cost one candidate the job she wanted Chris Berta is a Partner at The Laurel Group, a boutique executive search firm working with growth companies and PE/VC-backed teams, and Managing Partner at Urgency. Connect with Chris: Website: laurel-group.com Email: chris@laurel-group.com LinkedIn: Chris Berta — Fix My Fees helps business owners stop overpaying on merchant processing. Keep more. Grow more. Live better. → FixMyFees.com Got a business story nobody's telling? tavious@fixmyfeesteam.com

  6. Aug 12

    The Army Gave Him a Blank Check to Push Human Limits | Chris Major | Fix My Fees Ep. 38

    Your people are smart. They work hard. They still don't deliver what they promised more than 60% of the time — and Chris Major says the missing 40% isn't laziness, software, or strategy. It's coordination waste, and it's invisible. Chris coined the term "team cohesion" back in 1983, spent three years helping the U.S. Army redesign how it trains soldiers, ran a classified year with Special Forces, then took that body of work to AT&T, Intel, Microsoft, Nike, Cargill, and Capital One. In this episode he explains why most of what we call "modern management" was invented by people born in the 1800s to turn farm workers into factory labor — and why it's quietly breaking your business today. He breaks down the four quadrants of every working conversation, why the negotiation phase is where almost everything falls apart, and the rule he teaches every client: never take a first yes. If meetings are breeding meetings, everything takes longer than it should, and your A-players are getting quiet — this one's for you. Chapters 00:00 Why merchant processing is boring and Chris isn't 01:07 Rugby, skiing, and a business plan with one flaw 02:20 Three years with the Army and a blank check from Special Forces 04:30 Management practices designed for Henry Ford 05:45 You're not a knowledge worker. You're a coordination worker 07:09 Why Slack and Notion won't save you 08:38 The two-minute exercise where every single hand goes up 09:50 The four quadrants: formulation, negotiation, fulfillment, satisfaction 12:01 Never take a first yes 13:17 The thank-you you never got and what it cost your boss 15:00 Coordination waste: the 40% you can't see 16:09 The telltale signs your company already has this problem 17:18 Why you can't just train the quarterback 20:33 "2 to 3% of your people will quit. I don't charge extra for that." 24:12 Understanding is not competence. Only your body learns 27:20 What high performers actually spend on development 27:52 Why promoting the finance guy backfires 30:09 Fire walking, the Inca Trail, and the truth about Seattle rain 32:54 Where to find Chris Connect with Chris Major Human Potential Project: https://humanpotentialproject.com Book — The Power to Transform Got a story worth telling? Email Tavious at tavious@fixmyfeesteam.com to come on the show. Fix My Fees helps business owners stop overpaying on merchant processing. Keep more. Grow more. Live better. https://FixMyFees.com · @fixmyfees

  7. Aug 12

    How The Wrong Paper Cost Applicants a $12M Grant | Grace Sanchez | Fix My Fees Ep. 37

    Grace Sanchez has helped raise more than $1 billion for nonprofits. She started the Grace Group 23 years ago with one client and a name suggested by her 12-year-old son. In this episode, Grace breaks down how grant funding actually works — the four pillars of giving, why her team is usually the fifth one an organization hires, and the 190-page, four-month application that landed a hospital $12 million. She also explains the detail that gets applications declined on sight (hint: it's the paper). Then it gets personal. Grace shares losing her sister to ovarian cancer, quitting her job at Deutsche Bank to spend her mother's final year with her, and how a single comment from a scholarship student pushed her to convert her soap company, Hudson Naturals, into a social enterprise where 100% of profits fund student scholarships. If you've ever wondered why corporations really give money away, how to turn one gift into five years of funding, or what it looks like to move from success to significance — this one's for you. CHAPTERS 0:00 Meet Grace Sanchez 1:17 Fundraising, Deutsche Bank, and the year everything changed 8:21 Who actually needs a grant writer 11:48 The $12M grant — and the detail that gets you declined 13:47 Why they're usually the fifth team hired 14:45 The secret sauce: finding the right funders 15:10 The report that wins you the next five gifts 18:11 Why corporations give money away 20:22 Buying a soap company to save her body butter 24:16 The student comment that changed everything 26:47 Turning Hudson Naturals into a social enterprise 29:57 Golf, cooking, and coming back richer 32:37 Generational generosity and the rice paddy proverb 34:39 Her #1 secret to success 36:50 How to reach Grace CONNECT WITH GRACE Email: 1gracesanchez@gmail.com Hudson Naturals — soap and body butter where profits fund student scholarships ABOUT FIX MY FEES Merchant processing is boring. The people running real businesses aren't. Every week, host Tavious sits down with founders, operators, and leaders who share what actually worked, what it cost them, and what they'd do differently. Keep more. Grow more. Live better. FixMyFees.com · @fixmyfees Want to be a guest? Reach out: Tavious@fixmyfeesteam.com

  8. Aug 12

    She's Erased $1.9M in Medical Bills | Emily Bernstein | Fix My Fees Ep. 36

    You got the bill. It's wrong. You paid it anyway. Emily Bernstein has erased $1.9 million in medical debt for her clients, and she says most people never even try to fight — because hospitals and insurers count on you not knowing you can. She founded Wheelhouse Health Navigation after her mom's brain cancer diagnosis showed her how impossible the system is to navigate while you're also trying to get well. Named Advocate of the Year in 2024, she now averages about $40,000 saved per client — including one man whose $600,000 in hospital bills across three facilities she got wiped out over two years of appeals. If you run a business, this one matters twice: once for your own family, and once for the employees whose health plan you're paying for. In this episode: • Why you should never pay a medical bill you don't believe you owe • The financial assistance fund every nonprofit hospital is legally required to offer — and rarely tells you about • How a $120,000 bill got waived entirely • Why HR has more leverage with your insurer than you do • What employers should actually look for when choosing a plan • The new trend of hospitals demanding money upfront, and why you shouldn't pay it Connect with Emily: wheelhouse-health.com (chat with her directly and book a consultation) Want to be on the show? Email tavious@fixmyfeesteam.com More at FixMyFees.com · @fixmyfees Keep more. Grow more. Live better.

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About

Every leader has a story worth hearing. On the Fix My Fees podcast, we sit down with bold thinkers, builders, and industry pioneers to uncover the real moments that shaped them... The wins, the failures, the lessons learned the hard way. Whether you're just starting out or leading at the highest level, each episode is a masterclass in what it actually takes to succeed. New conversations. Timeless wisdom.

Information

  • Creator
    Fix My Fees
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    42
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Fix My Fees