The CEO Shift

Shawndel Spader
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Biweekly

The CEO Shift is a leadership podcast for CEOs, agency owners, and founders ready to think differently about how they lead, grow, and scale. Hosted by Shawndel Spader of Spader Group, each episode features real conversations with experienced CEOs, authors, and industry experts who share the mindset shifts that helped them move from reactive to intentional leadership. This is not about doing more. It is about leading better. From decision-making and team development to profitability, systems, and mindset, The CEO Shift explores what it actually takes to build a business that works for you, not because of you. If you are ready to stop spinning your wheels and start leading with clarity, confidence, and purpose, this podcast is for you. Follow The CEO Shift on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

  1. Oct 27

    Risk the Relationship to Gain the Relationship with Joel Molitor

    Most leaders who avoid hard conversations think they are protecting the relationship, and Joel Molitor will tell you they are usually doing the opposite. Joel spent 15 years in the financial advising industry, building a practice and then moving into leadership, before he and his wife felt called to make a big pivot in 2023 and return to his family business. Today he is a Partner at Molitor Brothers Farm in southeast Minnesota, where he has found that every leadership lesson still applies, because leadership is always about people. In this conversation, Joel explains why mentorship is a two-way street that requires a learner's heart, and how the law of the lid means a leader who stops growing puts a ceiling on everyone watching them. He opens up about an early leadership role where he was afraid of conflict, buried his head in the sand, and hurt people, and the board meeting feedback that made him decide to turn that weakness into a strength. He shares his approach to hard conversations, from building relational equity long before you need it, to preparing through the other person's lens, to making your intentions clear before you speak the truth, and he talks through what changes when you have to deliver hard feedback to someone you do not know well. If you are a CEO who keeps treating symptoms instead of root causes, this conversation is a practical guide to becoming the truth teller your team needs. Connect with Joel at molitorbrothersfarm.com or on the Molitor Brothers Farm Facebook page. The CEO Shift is hosted by Shawndel Spader of Spader Group. Find every episode, and sign up to have new ones delivered to your inbox, at spadergroup.com/ceo-shift.

  2. Oct 13

    To Be a Great Leader, Learn to Lead Yourself with Kim Hanson

    What does it look like to lead yourself first? Kim Hanson, CEO of LearningRx, joins Shawndel Spader to talk about taking the reins of the global brain training company her father founded, and what she had to learn about the CEO role, and about herself, along the way. Kim explains what brain training actually is and why you aren't stuck with the brain you were born with, then turns to her own leadership: the moment she realized that being a great leader meant learning to lead herself, the hard habits she took on as a result, and the pre-decided weekly rhythm that keeps her focused on vision, relationships, and her quarterly rocks instead of her inbox. It is a practical and honest conversation for CEOs who want to spend their time and energy where it matters most. Catch every episode of The CEO Shift at https://spadergroup.com/ceo-shift, where you can also sign up to receive new episodes by email each month. Connect with Kim Hanson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-hanson-cfe-bccs-2903729/ Speaker page: https://www.learningrx.com/speaker-kim-hanson/ LearningRx: https://www.learningrx.com The Purpose Directed Business (free download): https://www.purposedirectedbusiness.com/ Unlock the Einstein Inside (free download): https://unlocktheeinsteininside.com/ The Brainy Moms Podcast: https://www.thebrainymoms.com/ LearningRx on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/learningrx Connect with The CEO Shift and Spader Group Website: https://spadergroup.com/ceo-shift Shawndel Spader on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spadergroup/ Spader Group on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/spader-group-llc Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spadergroup Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpaderGroup

  3. Sep 29

    The Hidden Suffering of the Over-Giving CEO with Sarah Stokes

    What if the suffering you feel as a CEO is not a sign that you are failing, but a sign that your business is trying to help you heal? In this episode of The CEO Shift, Shawndel Spader talks with Sarah Stokes, founder of The Juicy Good Life, Business Joy Coach for the over-giver, and author of Worth the Squirm: How Our Business Helps Us Heal. Sarah has scaled three companies to multiple millions and has helped thousands of women build more sustainable and successful businesses. She shares the story of a successful CEO who thought she was being negative when she was really being strategic, explains why over-giving founders often want more for their team members than those team members want for themselves, and describes how Brené Brown's reminder that clear is kind can reset expectations on both sides. Sarah also walks through her Two Doors exercise, a nine-minute guided vision practice that helped one client move from heart palpitations and a pitch-black first door to the lake house and grandbabies she had only imagined, and Shawndel reflects on what came true after she did the exercise herself. Get Sarah's free Breakthrough: The 2 Doors exercise at https://the-juicy-good-life.mykajabi.com/opt-in-59f963ec-d297-46a3-bbd5-8600dca815ee and learn more about her work at https://www.thejuicygoodlife.com. Find every episode of The CEO Shift and sign up for monthly episode delivery at https://spadergroup.com/ceo-shift.   Connect with Sarah Stokes Website: https://www.thejuicygoodlife.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-juicy-good-life Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheJuicyGoodLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juicygoodlife Connect with The CEO Shift and Spader Group Website: https://spadergroup.com/ceo-shift Shawndel Spader on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spadergroup/ Spader Group on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/spader-group-llc Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spadergroup Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpaderGroup

  4. Sep 15

    Why 80% of Businesses Fail with David Guttman

    About 80% of businesses fail, and David Guttman will tell you it is almost never the market that killed them, it is leadership. David has spent a 35 year career building, scaling, and exiting 8 and 9 figure companies. He has bought and sold 15 businesses, raised more than $25 million across fintech, edtech, crypto, and health tech, and worked in more than 45 different industries as an operator, mentor, and consultant. He is a 3x Inc. 500 entrepreneur, a 2x TEDx speaker, and the founder and CEO of Guttman Media, and he mentors CEOs ranging in age from 18 to 47. In this conversation, David makes the case for servant leadership as the most effective approach available to the rest of us, and then gets specific about what it looks like in practice. He explains the equity mistake almost every growing company makes, which is guarding ownership while the business is worth very little and giving it away once it is worth a lot, and he walks through how phantom equity, four year vesting, and a one year cliff let a CEO share real upside without giving up control or handing the team a tax bill. He explains why a team with ownership roots for an exit instead of working against it, why he tells CEOs to run the business from day one as if they are going to sell it, and why he calls running a company without a budget financial malpractice. David also shares the two moments that shaped how he leads. At 24 he was misdiagnosed with terminal cancer and told by three doctors that he had six months to live, and years later his chief operating officer told him something after a meeting he handled badly that he describes as a cold bucket of water in the face. What came out of both is the rule he now teaches every CEO he mentors, which is to absorb as much blame as humanly possible and deflect as much credit. Connect with David Guttman Website: https://www.guttmanmedia.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/realdaveguttman X: https://x.com/realdaveguttman Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realdaveguttman Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drguttman YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RealDaveGuttman TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@realdaveguttman Titan Arc: https://www.titanarc.com 30 Acts of Kindness: https://www.30actsofkindness.org Connect with The CEO Shift Website: https://www.spadergroup.com/ceo-shift Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpaderGroup Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spadergroup LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/spader-group-llc Shawndel Spader on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spadergroup/

  5. Sep 1

    Love You First, Lead You First with Kashonna Marrow

    Most CEOs have a dashboard full of warning lights they have learned to drive right past. In this episode of The CEO Shift, Shawndel Spader talks with Kashonna Marrow, President and CEO of Simply Kashonna LLC, about authenticity, rest, and the vision you were never meant to carry alone. Kashonna is a speaker, coach, author, and corporate trainer who works with people on showing up as one person across their whole life instead of a different version in every room. She explains why pretending is a lot like telling a lie, what changes when you stop looking for permission, why the root of the word executive is execute and what that does to a leader over time, how rest builds capacity rather than costing momentum, and why great CEOs hire great people so the company keeps running when they step away. If you have ever felt the loneliness that comes with the CEO role, this conversation is a reminder that the work you have been putting off might be you. Connect with Kashonna Marrow Website: https://www.leadersmoveforward.com Website: https://www.simplykashonna.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simplykashonna Instagram: https://instagram.com/kashonnamarrow Newsletter: sign up at either website for her twice-monthly encouragement emails   Watch on YouTube or listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Find every episode and subscribe for monthly email delivery at spadergroup.com/ceo-shift.

  6. Aug 18

    No Decision Is a Bad Decision with Jess Haney

    What if the most expensive thing in your business is the decision you keep putting off? In this episode of The CEO Shift, Shawndel Spader talks with Jess Haney, Partner and COO of Kismet Marketing, about decisive leadership and the shift every growing CEO eventually faces: learning to let go. Jess spent 13 years in education before taking a leap into agency ownership. With a gift for building systems and pulling people across the finish line, she has become a leader who values calm, clarity, and action. She shares why no decision is a bad decision, how to get a team clear on who leads what, how she decides what to offload to an employee, a contractor, or AI, and what she has learned building a women-owned business in male-dominated industries. If you have ever felt the loneliness at the top, this episode is a reminder that you were never meant to run it alone. Watch on YouTube or listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Find every episode and subscribe for monthly email delivery at spadergroup.com/ceo-shift. Connect with Jess:  Website: https://www.kismet-marketing.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kismetmarketing/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KismetMarketing Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kismetmarketing/

  7. Aug 4

    In the Absence of Clarity, People Make Stuff Up with Angela Dee

    Growth rarely stalls because a CEO stopped working hard. It stalls because everything still lives in one person's head. Shawndel Spader sits down with Angela Dee, founder and CEO of Ascend Strategic Advisory, to unpack why clarity, not effort, is the real engine of scale. With more than 20 years in strategy and leadership development, Angela shares why teams invent their own narrative when direction is missing, how she productized her services and built a capability architecture so the business could run beyond her, and why she tells CEOs to build for the size they want to be rather than the size they are today. It is an honest look at the shift from being the center of everything to creating clarity In the Absence of Clarity, People Make Stuff Up | Angela Dee others can lead from. If you feel like the bottleneck in your own business, this episode is for you. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or watch on YouTube, and find every episode at spadergroup.com/ceo-shift.

  8. Jul 21

    Your Core Values Are Immutable DNA with Marc Robertz-Schwartz

    What if your core values aren't a poster on the wall, but the immutable DNA of your company? In this episode of The CEO Shift, Shawndel Spader talks with Marc Robertz-Schwartz, President of RTU Solutions and author of The RED APPLES Way, about why the word "core" is the part most CEOs skip. Marc spent 15 years building the multimedia marketing agency Red Apples Media before selling it at the end of 2024, and he learned that the strongest companies define who they are first, then let those values drive every hire, partnership, and pivot. Marc and Shawndel get honest about staying people-first in an age of AI, why values should evolve without losing their center, and why the CEO always sets the cultural tone. They also trade a few laughs about jargon, from P&L to EBITDA. If you lead a company and want to lead with more clarity and intention, this conversation will help you take a hard look at whether your stated values still match how you actually operate. Connect with Marc Robertz-Schwartz: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertz/ Website: https://www.MarcRobertz.com The RED APPLES Way: https://www.TheRedApplesWay.com Book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/RED-APPLES-Way-TransformedDesperation/dp/1966168586 Connect with The CEO Shift: Website: https://www.spadergroup.com/ceo-shift Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpaderGroup LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/spader-group-llc Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spadergroup

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

The CEO Shift is a leadership podcast for CEOs, agency owners, and founders ready to think differently about how they lead, grow, and scale. Hosted by Shawndel Spader of Spader Group, each episode features real conversations with experienced CEOs, authors, and industry experts who share the mindset shifts that helped them move from reactive to intentional leadership. This is not about doing more. It is about leading better. From decision-making and team development to profitability, systems, and mindset, The CEO Shift explores what it actually takes to build a business that works for you, not because of you. If you are ready to stop spinning your wheels and start leading with clarity, confidence, and purpose, this podcast is for you. Follow The CEO Shift on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Information

  • Creator
    Shawndel Spader
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    35
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026
  • Show Website
    The CEO Shift