The Conscious Entrepreneur

Guarding your joy while leading high-stakes work is not optional. It is the only way to last.

Dr. David Johns sits down with Alex Raymond for a conversation on what it means to lead without losing yourself. What keeps you grounded when the work feels endless? How do you stay in the fight without letting it consume you? 

Drawing from his journey, from growing up in Inglewood to serving in the Obama White House and now leading th...

Happiness isn’t a finish line; it’s the system you build every day to actually enjoy being alive.

Brian Dubow had the career, the money, the validation, and none of it made him feel fulfilled. So he stepped off the path, studied the science of happiness, and rebuilt his life from the inside out. In this episode, he joins Alex Raymond to share what he learned along the way and how entrepreneurs can stop chasing success and start c...

Most entrepreneurs want exponential growth. Few pause long enough to ask what’s quietly getting in the way.

In this episode, Alex Raymond shares what’s ahead for the Conscious Entrepreneur Summit, happening May 28th and 29th in Boulder, Colorado. This is the one event built entirely around the well-being of entrepreneurs, and it’s designed for those who are serious about scaling both their business and their inner capacity to lea...

Building a business is one thing; holding your vision steady through growth, pressure, and uncertainty is something else entirely.

Alex Raymond sits down with John Sampogna, the co-founder and CEO of Wondersauce, to talk about what the entrepreneurial journey really demands once the excitement wears off. John shares how he built a 100-person agency, why he created a “mental balance sheet” to manage the emotional costs of leadersh...

Real leadership isn’t being the smartest person in the room. It’s creating the kind of culture where people feel safe enough to say, “I don’t know.”

In this episode, Alex Raymond talks with Garry Ridge, the former CEO of WD-40 and the author of “Any Dumb-Ass Can Do It.” Garry shares how a moment of “jumping in to fix it” early in his career completely reshaped his approach to leadership. That shift, from problem-solver to coach, ...

Building a business with purpose will push you to grow in ways you probably didn’t expect. What happens when your ambition outpaces your timing? Or when your team starts breaking down and you realize the real issue starts with you?

In this episode, Alex Raymond talks with Brian Dally, the co-founder and CEO of Groundfloor, a fintech company that gives everyday investors access to real estate debt. Brian shares what he learned fro...

Most entrepreneurs think they need a new growth strategy. What they actually need is a better relationship with themselves.

In this episode, the tables turn as Sarah Lockwood, the founder of HiveCast, interviews Alex Raymond about the upcoming Conscious Entrepreneur Summit, happening May 28–29 in Boulder, Colorado. Now in its fourth year, the summit offers something most business events miss entirely: a chance to work on the pers...

Most outbound sales strategies rely on volume and noise. Mark Kosoglow is betting on something different: relevance, proof, and actually caring about the people on the other end.

Mark helped scale Outreach to over $230 million in revenue as its first sales hire. Now he’s a first-time founder and CEO at Operator, a startup built inside the GTM Fund, where he’s rethinking what outbound should look like and calling out what’s broken...

Surviving a lawsuit, scaling a franchise, and losing 125 pounds all pointed Bennett Maxwell toward one surprising realization: his nervous system had more influence than he ever imagined.

Bennett joins Alex Raymond to talk through the chaos and clarity that came with building Dirty Dough. When Crumble, a billion-dollar competitor, sued him over sprinkles and box shapes, he could have folded. Instead, he went bold. His response—ch...

Most entrepreneurs think they’re chasing success. Could they actually be addicted to the struggle?

Alex Raymond is joined by Dr. Nona Djavid, the founder of eLIVate Club, to discuss why so many business owners feel stuck in cycles of burnout, even when they seem to be thriving. Dr. Djavid built a successful business, but instead of feeling fulfilled, she found herself exhausted and trapped. That realization changed everything. Sh...

Entrepreneurship can feel like a lonely grind, but it doesn’t have to be. Dave Parker, the CEO of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, knows firsthand what it takes to build, scale, and sometimes close a business. In this episode, he joins Alex Raymond to share what separates successful founders from those who get stuck—breaking down product-market fit, the power of timing, and why self-awareness matters more than most people think.

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Most entrepreneurs play it safe with their goals, but Dr. Benjamin Hardy makes a bold case: setting “impossible” goals is the fastest way to scale. Is aiming for something that feels out of reach exactly what forces clarity, focus, and exponential growth?

In this episode, Alex Raymond sits down with Dr. Hardy, an organizational psychologist and bestselling author, to discuss the mindset shift behind 10X growth. Why do so many ent...

Most entrepreneurs assume growth means doing more. More effort. More complexity. More stress. But what if scaling 10X was easier than doubling your efforts?

Alex Raymond digs into the bold idea behind 10X Growth, inspired by 10X is Easier Than 2X by Dan Sullivan and Ben Hardy. He challenges the trap of incremental thinking and explains why real success comes from eliminating distractions, simplifying decisions, and focusing on wh...

Pain and curiosity are two of the greatest forces for growth. Dr. Anna Yusim, a psychiatrist and spiritual teacher, shares how entrepreneurs can use both to tap into intuition, break free from limiting patterns, and build a more fulfilling path.

Her journey from Stanford and Yale-trained psychiatry to a deeper exploration of spirituality and Kabbalah wasn’t planned. It started through unexplainable moments with patients and a dre...

Entrepreneurs chase optimization, but what happens when that’s not enough?

Jamie Wheal joins Alex Raymond to talk about flow, resilience, and the deeper search for meaning in leadership. He challenges the idea that personal optimization is the ultimate goal, suggesting it’s only the first step. The real work is in navigating uncertainty, making an impact, and staying grounded through Hedonic Engineering—a way to keep motivation h...

Success isn’t supposed to feel like a grind. The real challenge is knowing when to let go and step into what feels effortless.

Alex Raymond sits down with Ret Taylor, the co-founder and former co-CEO of Ned, to talk about the moment he knew it was time to walk away. After years of building a wellness company with a mission he believed in, Ret found himself stuck in the day-to-day demands of running a business that no longer felt ...

Success won’t fix what you think it will—and Wil Schroter, founder of Startups.com, explains why so many entrepreneurs hit major milestones only to feel more lost than ever.

Wil has built, sold, and acquired multiple companies, yet he’s seen countless entrepreneurs hit their biggest milestones only to feel more lost than ever. He sits down with Alex Raymond to talk about why financial wins don’t fix deeper struggles and how chasi...

Why do the most thoughtful leaders hesitate to share their stories online? Justin Nassiri, the founder and CEO of Executive Presence, believes those voices are exactly what the world needs. In this episode, Justin joins Alex Raymond to break down how leaders can use LinkedIn to build authentic personal brands that amplify trust and authority without losing their true selves.

From navigating discomfort with social media to creatin...

Entrepreneurship throws constant challenges, but Ajay Prakash has mastered staying grounded through resilience, psychological safety, and a no-excuses approach to leadership. 

In this episode, Ajay, the co-founder and CEO of Rinse—a company transforming the laundry and dry cleaning industry with a tech-driven approach—joins Alex Raymond to reflect on how he’s built Rinse into a national brand over 11 years while navigating setbac...