Ten Thousand Miles

Vic Pepe
  • 5.0 (7)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Daily

The road to success is full of hard work and determination. It is never easy - you just learn to handle hard... Here, I interview people who "make it look easy" but leave it all on the field daily to do so.

  1. 1d ago

    What A CEO Learned After Hitting $100M in Revenue! | David Karandish | Capacity

    David Karandish, founder and CEO of Capacity, returns to Ten Thousand Miles to unpack how his company rocketed from $5M to over $100M in annual recurring revenue in just three and a half years. David breaks down the three (soon to be four) big bets that built Capacity: automating customer support with AI, raising capital outside the traditional VC path, and running a "compound startup" playbook — a strategy borrowed from Rippling's Parker Conrad — to build, partner, and acquire (19 acquisitions in 39 months) their way into an all-in-one customer experience platform. Vic and David dig into how founder-to-founder relationships and a reputation for closing deals fuel Capacity's M&A engine, how agentic coding unexpectedly solved the "impossible" problem of integrating 19 acquired companies, and why differentiated AI models — not one-size-fits-all LLMs — will define the next wave of AI economics. The conversation also covers AI's role in education, why "problem describing, selecting, and solving" should never be collapsed into one step, how Capacity thinks about competition when everyone claims to be an AI company, and what inning we're really in when it comes to enterprise AI adoption. Chapters 00:00 – Welcome Back: David Karandish Returns 01:16 – From $5M to $100M ARR: The Three Big Bets 05:05 – The Compound Startup Playbook (Parker Conrad's Framework) 12:23 – How Capacity Finds, Diligences, and Closes Acquisitions 20:15 – Agentic Coding: The Hidden Unlock for M&A Integration 25:42 – Token Costs, Model Economics, and the Future of Compute 42:20 – AI in Education, Work, and the "Agents Everywhere" Bet 52:33 – Competing on the Oval: Problem-Solving Framework and What's Next Guest: David Karandish, Founder & CEO of Capacity, previously founder of Answers.com

  2. Jul 27

    Scaling Through Recessions, AI, and Everything Else That Goes Wrong

    CEO Interview - What does it really take to grow a company from $6 million to more than $100 million in revenue? Leadership... In this episode of Ten Thousand Miles, Vic Pepe sits down with Josh Gould - CEO of The Big Word, investor, and entrepreneur who has spent decades building and scaling businesses through recessions, wars, AI disruption, and private equity ownership. Josh shares the unfiltered realities of entrepreneurship: why failure is the norm, how resilience beats brilliance, and why the companies that survive aren't always the prettiest—they're the ones built like cockroaches. The conversation dives into scaling, private equity, AI, leadership, difficult decisions, and the mindset required to build businesses that can withstand almost anything. Along the way, Josh offers practical lessons on hiring, innovation, and why having fun may be one of the most underrated business strategies of all. Whether you're a founder, executive, investor, or aspiring entrepreneur, this episode is packed with hard-earned wisdom from someone who's lived every lesson he shares. In this episode: - Growing a company from $6M to $100M+ - Why most entrepreneurial decisions fail—and why that's okay - The "cockroach" philosophy for building resilient businesses - Lessons from surviving multiple waves of AI disruption - What it's really like selling to private equity - Build vs. buy: making smarter technology decisions - Hiring leaders who complement your weaknesses - Why entrepreneurship is both freedom and sacrifice - The overlooked importance of having fun while building something meaningful Chapters 00:00 Welcome to Episode 120 & Meet Josh Gould 03:26 The Mission That Has Driven Josh's Entire Career 09:42 Why Failure Is the Real Path to Entrepreneurial Success 19:14 Scaling from $6M to $100M Through Constant Reinvention 29:39 Selling to Private Equity: What Every Founder Should Know 47:00 AI, Automation, and the Future of Business 01:12:31 Lightning Round: Leadership Lessons, Hiring, and Why You Should Never Forget to Have Fun https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuadgould?utm_source=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=member_ios https://youtube.com/@exec_craft?si=pZ-kiXjXXgsFn69r https://www.instagram.com/execcraft?igsh=YzNtbGR5bmg5OHNo https://en-us.thebigword.com/

  3. Jul 20

    This Is What Reinvention Really Looks Like! | Lori "ICE" Fetrick

    See how a former Gladiators star handles public criticism. Learn how she pivots from being mocked to turning that attention into profit.In this candid Gladiators interview, we sit down to discuss the reality of life after the show. Many public figures face ridicule online, but this conversation explores a different approach: embracing the attention rather than fighting it. If you have ever wondered how to shift your mindset when people are laughing at you, this discussion offers a practical perspective on taking control of your own narrative.We cover the challenges of public perception and the specific moment of clarity that led to this change in strategy. By dealing with criticism head-on, the guest explains why choosing to monetize the memes was the smartest business decision they could make. This is a must-watch for anyone interested in personal branding and the realities of modern media fame. Subscribe for weekly media and entertainment breakdowns, and tell us in the comments if you would do the same in their position. 00:00 Meet Lori “ICE” Fetrick: The Queen of Reinvention 03:17 From San Bernardino Athlete to Bodybuilder 13:32 Auditioning for American Gladiators 23:40 Fame, Madison Square Garden, and Life Behind the Scenes 26:31 Muscles & Mayhem and What Happened After Gladiators 34:10 The Hustle Years, Failure, Fear, and Reinvention 47:02 Staying Relevant and Unapologetically Yourself at 63 53:13 OnlyFans, Fitness, Longevity, and What Comes Next https://lorifetrick.com/ https://www.instagram.com/lori.ice.fetrick/ https://www.facebook.com/Lori.Fetrick.Ice/ https://x.com/LoriIceFetrick https://www.youtube.com/@UC8JWfhbLQ_2MCMAUBeHqaQA https://onlyfans.com/Lorifetrick

  4. Jul 13

    Strength, Discipline, Legacy! | Josh Holyfield

    Josh Holyfield discusses the realities of building a legacy and the discipline required to sustain it. Get a raw look at his personal story and the specific mindset shifts needed for long-term growth. This session explores the journey behind the Josh Holyfield brand, moving past standard interview surface-level questions. We examine the foundational experiences that prepared him for his current trajectory and analyze the practical steps he takes to maintain daily consistency. This is for listeners who want to understand the rigorous work ethic that drives high-level performance. By examining his personal philosophy, you will gain a clearer picture of how to handle professional friction. We break down the specific mental hurdles Josh Holyfield faced and how his approach to obstacles has evolved over time. If you are looking for actionable insights on discipline, this conversation provides a blueprint for applying those lessons to your own path. Chapters 00:00 – Meet Josh Holyfield: Reinvention Through Service 06:00 – From Homelessness to the U.S. Military 13:00 – Iraq, Afghanistan, and Finding Purpose Under Pressure 20:00 – Obedience vs. Discipline: The Lesson That Changed Everything 28:00 – Heartbreak, Identity, and Reinventing Himself 36:00 – Building a $15 Million Business by Serving First 46:00 – The Truth About Health, Hormones, and Lasting Transformation 56:00 – Life Lessons, Legacy, and Becoming the Man You Were Meant to Be

  5. Jul 7

    The Career Secret Every Successful Person Knows at 20

    This episode features a candid conversation between the host and Alexa Palermo. If you are a fan of the show or interested in the journey behind this specific podcast, this episode provides direct insight into the themes being explored. Throughout the interview, Alexa Palermo shares her experiences while the host guides the dialogue to ensure a comprehensive overview. Whether you are catching up on previous episodes or just finding the 10000 Miles podcast for the first time, this session highlights key moments that define the current season. This is a must-watch for those who appreciate a focused podcast interview that gets straight to the point. Subscribe for weekly 10000 Miles podcast updates and leave a comment sharing your favorite moment from this interview. Alexa Palermo, Channel Manager at Vonage, joins Ten Thousand Miles to share how she broke into channel sales in her 20s, built confidence through imposter syndrome, and uses AI (ChatGPT, Claude) to boost productivity in tech sales. A must-watch for anyone starting a career in IT channel sales. Chapters: 00:00 – Cold open 00:58 – 117 episodes in: the mission behind Ten Thousand Miles 03:26 – Alexa introduces herself 04:13 – Why the channel builds stronger relationships 05:16 – Alexa's first channel job at Procure IT 09:44 – What really attracted her to channel sales 12:03 – The "unfair advantage" of growing up in the industry 14:13 – Biggest misconceptions about tech sales 17:09 – The dinner in Texas that changed everything 20:20 – Overcoming imposter syndrome 24:54 – Mentors who shaped her career (Chris Fury, Kristy Thomas, Marina Kay) 29:23 – Mistakes, rejection, and learning to wait your turn 37:00 – How AI (ChatGPT, Claude) is changing careers for young professionals 42:00 – Rapid fire: success, leadership & advice for young pros 44:06 – Why the channel needs more women 46:39 – Final takeaway & closing Please Comment, Like, Share, and Subscribe!

  6. Jun 29

    Success Isn't Enough! | Dave Guttman

    Learn entrepreneur mentorship strategies from Dave Gutman. Discover practical business advice and founder lessons for your next venture. This episode sits down with Dave Gutman, a seasoned founder, speaker, and startup investor. We discuss his approach to building businesses and the core principles that guide his professional journey. Whether you are scaling a company or just starting out, his insights on entrepreneurship tips provide a clear roadmap for navigating common industry challenges. Throughout our conversation, Dave breaks down the realities of being a founder in today's market. He shares honest perspectives on mentorship and investment that helped shape his career. This discussion is designed for anyone looking to refine their business strategy and understand the mindset required for long-term growth. Chapters: 00:00 – Welcome to Ten Thousand Miles with Dave Guttman 01:20 – Early Life, Wrestling, Entrepreneurship, and Lessons from Failure 07:39 – Learning Business Through Search Funds, Mentors, and Acquisitions 20:29 – Defining Moments, Dyslexia, Brown, Wharton, and Life’s Turning Points 28:17 – The Cancer Misdiagnosis That Changed Everything 39:32 – Fundraising, Building Sellable Companies, and the Anti-MBA Philosophy 59:20 – AI, Lifelong Learning, Success, Leadership, and Final Lessons Subscribe for stories and business breakdowns, and comment below with which specific entrepreneurship topic you want us to cover next. Please Comment, Like, Share, and Subscribe!

  7. Jun 22

    My LinkedIn Strategy for Massive Growth! | Denise Panza

    What does it take to close a $2.9 million loan with a doctor you've never met — in a state you're not even licensed in yet — all because of a letterboard and a LinkedIn post? Denise Panza has done it. Repeatedly. Denise is a 30-year mortgage veteran, licensed in 20 states, and one of the most authentic personal brand builders in the financial services industry. In this return appearance on Ten Thousand Miles, Denise and host Vic Pepe pull back the curtain on how she went from Facebook mom to LinkedIn powerhouse — and how her social media presence has fundamentally transformed her loan production, her reach, and the lives of the families she serves. This isn't a fluffy "post more content" conversation. Denise gets real about what actually works, what mortgage professionals are doing wrong on social media, how she handles compliance in a heavily regulated industry, and why she answers her phone at 11 PM — not because she has to, but because she genuinely loves what she does. Whether you're in mortgages, real estate, sales, or just trying to build a personal brand that actually converts — this episode is loaded with practical wisdom and a few laughs along the way. Subscribe to Ten Thousand Miles for new episodes every Monday. Hosted by Vic Pepe | Author of "The RFP Is Dead" and "The Lucky 13" CONNECT WITH DENISE PANZA: • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisepanza/ — follow her letterboard game in real time • Apply Online: askmortgagegal.com CONNECT WITH VIC PEPE & TEN THOUSAND MILES: • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/vicpepe • D&M Enterprise Group: dmenterprise.net ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ CHAPTERS ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 00:00 – Welcome Back: Denise Panza Returns to Ten Thousand Miles 01:18 – Why LinkedIn Changed Everything for Denise's Mortgage Business 03:35 – From Facebook to LinkedIn: How She Found Her Platform 06:25 – The Letterboard Signature and Building an Authentic Brand 09:06 – What Skeptics Said — and Why She Did It Anyway 09:44 – The 99-Year-Old WWII Veteran She Met on a Plane (and What It Taught Her About LinkedIn) 16:00 – Consistency Over Virality: The Long Game of Social Media 25:55 – Why Most Mortgage Pros Are Posting the Wrong Content 32:14 – How a LinkedIn Post Turned a Stranger Into a $2.9M Loan Client 34:40 – Every Loan Type, Every Client: Why Denise Doesn't Pick a Niche 36:23 – No Boundaries, No Problem: Answering Calls at 11 PM 38:43 – Retirement Is Not in Her Vocabulary (and Why She's Right) 47:41 – The Algorithm Nobody Can Predict — Including Vic 51:14 – Rapid Fire: Best Post Ever, Worst Habits on Social, and the Compliance Question 54:29 – The Closing Story That Still Gives Her Chills 57:46 – Celebrate Yourself: Open That Bottle of Camus ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ KEYWORDS & TOPICS COVERED ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ mortgage loan officer LinkedIn strategy | personal branding for mortgage professionals | social media for real estate and lending | how to get mortgage clients on LinkedIn | mortgage sales tips 2025 | authentic content creation | loan officer marketing | jumbo loans | reverse mortgages | first-time home buyers | mortgage compliance and social media | building a brand in a regulated industry | LinkedIn growth strategy | mortgage industry podcast | sales mindset | work-life balance in sales | storytelling in sales | female entrepreneurs in finance | Ten Thousand Miles podcast | Vic Pepe podcast Please Comment, Like, Share, and Subscribe! #shorts #shortsfeed #podcast #leaders #stories #podcast #courage #business #Success #Leadership #Motivation #Inspiration #SelfImprovement #PersonalDevelopment #GoalSetting #Mindset #Entrepreneurship #BusinessSuccess #LifeGoals #PositiveThinking #AchieveYourGoals #SuccessMindset #LeadershipSkills #MotivationalQuotes #SuccessTips #LeadershipDevelopment #InspirationalVideos #SuccessStories #money #life #rockandroll #music #CEO #COO #CFO #CAO #nextjob #goodtimes #success

  8. Jun 15

    The Hidden Opportunity Most People Never See | Anna Stallman

    We're back with another episode of Ten Thousand Miles, and today I'm incredibly lucky to sit down with Anna Stallmann, founder of Ascent Strategic Communications. Whether you're a CEO trying to build influence, a founder considering a rebrand, or a professional wondering if you should start a podcast — this episode is for you. CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Anna Stallmann 05:00 From the U.S. Senate to the Department of Defense 16:00 Launching Ascent Strategic Communications 19:00 The First 90 Days of Entrepreneurship 26:00 Strategy Over Noise 33:00 Should You Start a Podcast? 40:00 The Rebrand 44:00 People First Leadership 51:00 Personal Brand vs. Company Brand 58:00 Rapid Fire KEY TAKEAWAYS * The most underrated communication move: know your white space — the message only YOU can deliver * Visibility is not influence. Influence is built through trust, discipline, and messengers * "Plans are worthless, but planning is everything." — General Eisenhower * Be famous internally first — with your family, your team, your community * Hard work ethic still builds the best leaders. Fame that is earned lasts * It doesn't matter what you say. It matters what people hear GUEST RESOURCES Ascent Strategic Communications: https://ascentcomms.com/ Book Recommendation: Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath #StrategicCommunications #PersonalBranding #Leadership #Entrepreneurship #TenThousandMilesPodcast #PublicRelations #CEOBranding #WhiteSpace #CommunicationsStrategy #PodcastInterview Please Comment, Like, Share, and Subscribe! Guest: Anna Stallmann

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

The road to success is full of hard work and determination. It is never easy - you just learn to handle hard... Here, I interview people who "make it look easy" but leave it all on the field daily to do so.

Information

  • Creator
    Vic Pepe
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    131
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 Ten Thousand Miles
  • Show Website
    Ten Thousand Miles

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