The Turning Point Podcast

Still Point Insight
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Entrepreneurship

On The Turning Point Podcast, we talk to mission driven leaders who are dedicated to social and environmental impact, doing their part to help our species navigate this critical moment of change. Joanna Macy, the great environmental activist and systems ecologist, said that when faced with planetry crisis, there are three stories we can tell ourselves. *Business as usual* in which we tell ourselves that some degree of damage is necessary for human progress. *The great unraveling* in which we tell ourselves that mass ecosystem destruction is inevitable. And *The Great Turning* in which we tell ourselves that evolving the way we live is the only way forward and that we’re at the beginning of one of the great human projects in our history. On this podcast we talk to the people who are writing that third story with their own work in their own lives. Welcome to the turning point.

  1. May 10

    Mission-Driven | Culture: Design the System, Not the Slogans

    Most leaders think culture is about values. It’s not. Culture is shaped by behavior—and behavior is shaped by systems. In this Mission-Driven episode of The Turning Point, we break down why organizational culture is so difficult to change, and why most culture initiatives fail before they start. What shows up as a “capacity problem” or “performance issue” is often something deeper: misalignment between mission, behavior, and the systems that reinforce both. We explore the difference between mission and culture, why culture is always forming (whether you’re intentional or not), and how leaders can create real change by focusing on high-leverage behaviors instead of abstract ideals. If you’re leading a growing, mission-driven organization and feeling the strain—this conversation will help you see what’s actually happening beneath the surface. Key Topics Why culture is the hidden constraint on capacity and performance The difference between mission and culture (and why it matters) How behavior—not values—defines culture Why systems (not slogans) shape how people show up The role of leadership in intentionally designing culture How to diagnose misalignment inside your organization Why culture change requires leverage, not overhaul Chapters 00:00 – Why capacity problems are usually culture problems 01:13 – What culture actually is (the “party” analogy) 04:01 – Culture is forming whether you shape it or not 05:10 – The 3-step process for intentional culture design 06:13 – Defining the culture you actually want 09:06 – How to assess the culture you currently have 12:14 – Mission vs. culture: why they’re not the same 13:11 – Culture as a tool to serve the mission 15:46 – Why outside perspective matters 18:14 – Why behavior is what actually matters 19:45 – Culture change and the power of leverage 22:52 – A simple question to diagnose alignment 24:37 – The “sore thumb” problem on teams 27:17 – The leadership role: what kind of party are you hosting? #MissionDriven #Leadership #OrganizationalCulture #Scaling #SystemsThinking #Management #ExecutiveLeadership Learn more about our work: https://stillpointinsight.com Subscribe to The Turning Point: https://stillpointinsight.com/the-turning-point

    30 min

  2. Mar 15

    Breaking the Lie of Zero-Sum Thinking with Dr. Kinari Webb

    Many of the institutions shaping our world operate on a quiet assumption: that resources are scarce and progress requires competition. But what if that assumption is false? In this episode of The Turning Point, Justin Baker and Ian C. Williams speak with Dr. Kinari Webb, founder of Health In Harmony, about what happens when we approach complex challenges with a different mindset—one grounded in reciprocity, ecological awareness, and what she calls radical listening. Kinari’s work began in the rainforests of Borneo, where she partnered with Indigenous communities to address the interconnected challenges of deforestation, poverty, and public health. Instead of imposing outside solutions, her team began by listening deeply to the knowledge of people living closest to the land. What emerged challenges many of the assumptions underlying modern development and conservation efforts. The results were striking: healthier forests, stronger communities, and a powerful demonstration that systems built around reciprocity with nature and trust in local knowledge can produce outcomes that benefit both people and ecosystems. In this conversation, we explore how radical listening can transform leadership, systems design, and the way organizations approach complex problems. 00:00 Introduction 02:10 Kinari Webb’s path to rainforest conservation 07:45 Discovering the connection between human health and forest health 13:30 Why traditional conservation approaches often fail 18:20 The principle of radical listening 24:05 Indigenous knowledge and systems thinking 30:15 Challenging the narrative of scarcity 36:40 Designing solutions with communities instead of for them 42:10 Reciprocity with nature and thriving ecosystems 48:30 What regenerative systems can teach organizations 54:10 Leadership lessons from rainforest communities 58:30 Reimagining systems that allow life to thrive 01:03:15 Final reflections #SystemsThinking #RegenerativeLeadership #MissionDrivenLeadership #OrganizationalCulture #EcologicalLeadership #FutureOfWork #RegenerativeEconomy Learn more about Dr. Kinari Webb’s work at Health In Harmony https://healthinharmony.org If your organization is navigating complex change and looking to build cultures that support long-term thriving, learn more about our work: https://stillpointinsight.com

    59 min

  3. Feb 28

    Mission Isn’t Enough: What Growth-Stage Investors Look For | Patrick Donohue, Hill Capital

    Mission matters. But when it comes to raising growth capital, it’s not enough. In this episode of The Turning Point, Justin and Ian sit down with Patrick Donohue, manager partner and CEO at Hill Capital, to unpack what growth-stage investors actually look for in small and lower middle-market businesses. They explore the painful middle stage many founders hit — the $1–3 million “no man’s land” — where companies have proven product-market fit but lack the systems, financial rigor, and leadership capacity to scale. Patrick shares how investors evaluate risk, why financial fluency is a founder’s competitive advantage, and how to avoid predatory capital that can quietly stall your mission. If you’re building a mission-driven company and thinking about growth capital, this conversation will challenge how you think about funding, accountability, and long-term value creation. What You’ll Learn Why mission alone won’t attract serious growth capital The most common financial blind spots founders have How investors evaluate companies in the messy middle stage The difference between supportive capital and predatory lending How to become “investable” without sacrificing your purpose Why vision — not just mission — drives enterprise value 00:00 – Why Mission Isn’t Enough 05:12 – The $1–3M Growth “No Man’s Land” 12:40 – The Skills Gap Most Founders Don’t See 20:15 – How Investors Actually Evaluate Risk 28:30 – Predatory Capital vs. Growth Capital 36:05 – Financial Fluency as Founder Leverage 44:50 – Mission vs. Vision: What Drives Enterprise Value 52:10 – Building Long-Term, Sustainable Companies #MissionDrivenLeadership #GrowthCapital #SmallBusinessFunding #FounderJourney #ScalingImpact #Entrepreneurship #LeadershipDevelopment 🔎 Learn more about Patrick and Hill Capital: https://www.hillcapitalcorp.com/ 🎧 Subscribe to The Turning Point Podcast: https://stillpointinsight.com/the-turning-point

    51 min
  4. Mission-Driven | Prioritization: Choose What Moves the Needle

    Feb 23

    Mission-Driven | Prioritization: Choose What Moves the Needle

    Mission-driven leaders face a unique challenge: building a successful, sustainable organization while staying true to a deeper purpose. This episode marks the launch of our new Mission-Driven series, created specifically to support the founders, executives, and leaders we serve through our work at Stillpoint Insight. In this conversation, Ian and Justin break down one of the most essential—and misunderstood—leadership skills: prioritization. They explore why prioritization is not just about productivity, but about aligning limited resources with your highest-impact mission. From strategy and leverage to focus, burnout, and the emotional complexity of leadership, they offer practical frameworks and hard-earned lessons from working directly with mission-driven founders across industries. You’ll learn how to identify what truly moves the needle, how to say no without losing momentum, and how great leaders balance operational realities with long-term impact. Whether you're scaling a company, navigating growth, or simply trying to create space to think clearly again, this episode will help you reconnect your daily actions with your deeper mission. This is the work beneath the work. — Learn more about our work supporting mission-driven leaders: https://www.stillpointinsight.com   Key Topics Covered Why prioritization is the foundation of leadership The relationship between strategy, leverage, and focus How mission-driven leaders navigate complexity differently The hidden cost of saying yes to everything How to identify and resolve the biggest constraint in your business Practical frameworks: Pareto Principle, BOPIT, Theory of Constraints Transitioning from operator to strategic leader Preventing burnout through intentional prioritization 00:00 Introduction to the Mission-Driven series 02:10 Why mission-driven leaders face unique prioritization challenges 03:20 Strategy, leverage, and focus: a practical framework 07:46 The tension between mission and business reality 10:53 Inner transformation and leadership effectiveness 16:55 Tactical prioritization frameworks that work 20:41 Why most organizations struggle with prioritization 26:05 Common mistakes mission-driven leaders make 31:10 Burnout, overwhelm, and the power of saying no 36:05 Case study: reclaiming time and reducing burnout 39:47 Scaling leadership and setting boundaries 41:41 Transitioning from founder to strategic leader 44:05 Hard conversations and leadership growth 47:10 Identifying and resolving organizational constraints 49:23 Practical steps to reduce burnout now 50:33 The BOPIT framework: Brainstorm, Organize, Prioritize 51:41 Closing thoughts and preview of next episode   #MissionDriven #Leadership #FounderLeadership #Prioritization #StrategicLeadership #MissionDrivenBusiness #Entrepreneurship #ExecutiveLeadership #PurposeDriven #BusinessStrategy #LeadershipDevelopment #FounderJourney #ImpactDriven #StillpointInsight

    53 min

  5. Jan 14

    From the NICU to a Medical Breakthrough with Dori Jones of Acqumen Medical

    In this episode of The Turning Point, we sit down with Dori Jones, founder and CEO of Acqumen Medical, to explore how a personal NICU experience sparked a breakthrough in pediatric critical care. The U.S. has the highest infant mortality rate of any wealthy nation—a reality most people never confront until they’re forced to. Dori explains why infants and children in critical care are so difficult to monitor, how doctors make life-or-death decisions with limited data, and how Acqumen Medical is changing that with non-invasive hemodynamic monitoring technology. We unpack the science behind blood flow measurement, why cardiac output matters far earlier than traditional vital signs, and how Acqumen’s UltraTrack technology combines ultrasound and impedance in a completely new way. Dori also shares the realities of building a pediatric medical device company, navigating FDA pathways, fundraising, and why innovation in children’s healthcare is both overlooked—and essential. 🎧 Learn more about the technology at https://www.acqumenmedical.com/ 📩 Subscribe to The Turning Point at https://stillpointinsight.com/the-turning-point #TheTurningPointPodcast #HealthcareInnovation #PediatricCare #MedicalDevices #FounderStory #NICU #InfantHealth #HealthTech #MissionDriven #StartupStories

    57 min

  6. Jan 2

    Scaling Carbon Removal the “Unsexy” Way with Andrew Jones of Carba

    Carbon removal isn’t new—but most solutions are expensive, centralized, and difficult to scale. So what if the most effective answer is also the least flashy? In this episode of The Turning Point, Justin Baker and Ian C. Williams sit down with Andrew Jones, founder and CEO of Carba, to explore a radically practical approach to carbon removal—one that leverages biology, waste streams, and existing infrastructure instead of giant vacuum machines. Andrew breaks down why decarbonization alone won’t solve climate change, how biochar can permanently remove carbon from the atmosphere, and why decentralized, “unsexy” climate infrastructure may be our best path forward. Along the way, we unpack carbon markets, landfill co-benefits, regenerative agriculture, and the hard realities of financing climate hardware. 🔗 Learn more about Carba’s carbon removal technology: carba.com 🎧 Subscribe and explore more episodes of The Turning Point: https://stillpointinsight.com/the-turning-point #CarbonRemoval #CarbonCapture #ClimateTech #Biochar #ClimateSolutions #CleanTech #Decarbonization #ClimateInfrastructure #Sustainability 00:00 – Why carbon capture gets so much skepticism 03:00 – The simple logic behind carbon removal 06:15 – Why decarbonization alone isn’t enough 10:40 – The Carboniferous Period and nature’s blueprint 14:45 – Why planting trees won’t solve the problem 18:00 – Turning biomass waste into permanent carbon storage 22:00 – How biochar actually works (pyrolysis explained) 28:30 – Why landfills are a surprising climate solution 33:30 – Carbon markets, pricing, and permanence 39:00 – Why decentralized climate solutions matter 44:00 – Financing “unsexy” climate infrastructure 50:00 – Biochar, soil health, and regenerative agriculture 55:30 – What needs to change to scale carbon removal 57:45 – What individuals and companies can do now

    1h 1m

  7. 12/21/2025

    Healthcare with Humanity: Sarah Brown of Gatherwell on Care Without Insurance

    What if healthcare worked for people instead of insurance companies? In this episode of The Turning Point, we sit down with Sarah Brown, founder of Gatherwell, to explore a radically different approach to healthcare—one that removes insurance from the equation entirely. Sarah shares why she left traditional healthcare, how the insurance-driven system fails both patients and providers, and what direct access care looks like in practice. We unpack patient agency, preventative care, entrepreneurship inside a broken system, and why “care without insurance” may actually lead to better outcomes and lower costs. If you’ve ever felt frustrated, powerless, or confused navigating healthcare, this conversation offers a hopeful—and practical—alternative. Learn more about GatherWell at gatherwellmn.com Subscribe to the Turning Point Podcast here 00:00 – Why Healthcare Feels Broken 02:10 – Meet Sarah Brown of Gatherwell 05:45 – How Insurance Distorts Healthcare Incentives 10:40 – Where Your Healthcare Dollars Actually Go 16:00 – What “Care Without Insurance” Really Means 21:10 – Patient Agency vs the Traditional System 27:30 – Why Direct Care Is So Hard to Build 34:15 – GLP-1s, Metabolic Health, and Personalized Care 41:50 – Advice for Patients Navigating Healthcare Today 47:00 – Courage, Entrepreneurship, and Systemic Change

    50 min

  8. 12/11/2025

    The Cost of Poor Coordination in Healthcare – and How Dr. Mike Pitt Is Fixing It

    Poor coordination in hospitals is more than an inconvenience—it leads to preventable errors, missed conversations, and unnecessary emotional stress for patients and families. In this episode, Dr. Mike Pitt joins Justin and Ian to reveal how Q-Rounds is solving one of healthcare’s most persistent problems: getting doctors, nurses, and families in the room at the right time. Discover why time transparency matters, how better coordination can reduce medical errors by 40%, and what it looks like to build a mission-driven healthcare innovation from the inside out. 👉 Learn more about Q-Rounds at q-rounds.com 👉 Subscribe to The Turning Point for more conversations with founders transforming complex systems https://stillpointinsight.com/the-turning-point. ⏱️ Episode Chapters 00:00 — Introduction: Why Coordination Fails in Healthcare 02:10 — Meet Dr. Mike Pitt: Pediatric Hospitalist & Q-Rounds Founder 05:30 — The “When Will the Doctor Be Here?” Problem 09:45 — How Poor Coordination Leads to Medical Errors 13:20 — The Birth of Q-Rounds: From Great Clips to Groundbreaking Insight 18:05 — Time Transparency and Real-Time Updates Explained 23:40 — Human Stories: Families Finally Included in Their Care 29:15 — The Business Case: ROI, Retention, and Better Workflows 36:50 — Mission-Driven Tech: Building Solutions That Actually Get Used 45:10 — The Future of Coordinated Care & What’s Next for Q-Rounds

    51 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

On The Turning Point Podcast, we talk to mission driven leaders who are dedicated to social and environmental impact, doing their part to help our species navigate this critical moment of change. Joanna Macy, the great environmental activist and systems ecologist, said that when faced with planetry crisis, there are three stories we can tell ourselves. *Business as usual* in which we tell ourselves that some degree of damage is necessary for human progress. *The great unraveling* in which we tell ourselves that mass ecosystem destruction is inevitable. And *The Great Turning* in which we tell ourselves that evolving the way we live is the only way forward and that we’re at the beginning of one of the great human projects in our history. On this podcast we talk to the people who are writing that third story with their own work in their own lives. Welcome to the turning point.

Information

  • Creator
    Still Point Insight
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    18
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Turning Point Podcast