Episodes

In Episode 347 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with Paul Riismandel, President of Signal Hill Insights and one of the leading voices in podcast audience research, to explore the future of podcasting, media, and audience attention. Drawing on more than two decades of experience in digital audio, podcasting, advertising, and audience measurement, Paul shares what creators, entrepreneurs, marketers, and business leaders need to understand about where the industry is hea...

In Episode 346 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with Rudy A. Zacharias and Terry Elkins of About That... to explore one of the most misunderstood topics in business: branding. Drawing on decades of experience helping organizations navigate growth and transformation, Rudy and Terry explain why a brand is far more than a logo. It is the sum total of what people think, feel, and experience when they interact with your company. Together, they unpack the warning signs that...

Episode 345 of The Business Development Podcast dives into a conversation that almost never gets talked about in entrepreneurship: what happens at the end. Kelly Kennedy sits down with Robert Welke, business growth strategist, Certified Exit Planning Advisor, entrepreneur, and Co-Founder of MExit Inc., to explore why so many business owners spend decades building companies only to discover they have nothing they can actually sell. Together, they unpack Canada’s growing entrepreneurial challenges...

After launching CTK at just 24 years old in the middle of a global pandemic, Chris Vasiliou didn’t wait for perfect timing, certainty, or permission. In this episode, Chris shares the realities of scaling a construction company in one of Canada’s toughest industries, the lessons learned from growing from a handful of people to a national operation, and why entrepreneurship can’t truly be taught, it has to be lived. From earning trust as a young founder to building credibility through responsiven...

In episode 343 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy breaks down the 10 must-have tools every business development professional should be using in 2026 and beyond. From timeless essentials like the phone, email, LinkedIn, notepads, Excel, and CRM systems to modern tools like ChatGPT, Apollo.io, Surfe, AI note takers, and Canva, this episode provides a practical look at the tools that can improve efficiency, consistency, prospecting, follow-up, meeting preparation, and overall BD per...

Episode 342 of The Business Development Podcast features the return of entrepreneur, speaker, author, and Foureva Media founder Jamar Jones for one of the most powerful conversations yet on reinvention, visibility, personal branding, and becoming the person your future requires. From opening for artists like Snoop Dogg, T.I., Common, and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony to losing his voice and rebuilding his entire life through entrepreneurship, Jamar shares the hard-earned lessons that transformed his mind...

Episode 341 of The Business Development Podcast features an incredibly honest and inspiring conversation with Stephanie Gross, Founder & CEO of Bumby Wool, a Canadian wool clothing brand built from the ground up through resilience, creativity, and relentless determination. Stephanie shares her journey from working in oil and gas and raising a family to launching a sustainable manufacturing company that has grown from homemade cloth diapers into a recognized Canadian apparel brand focused on ethi...

Episode 340 of The Business Development Podcast features a powerful conversation with Manja Horner, founder of Boost LD, on the hidden skilled trades crisis happening across North America. As experienced tradespeople retire, companies are losing decades of knowledge, systems, instincts, and expertise that were never properly documented or passed down. Kelly and Manja dive deep into workforce development, retention, onboarding, leadership, and why the future of the trades depends on capturing and...

Episode 339 of The Business Development Podcast breaks down The Ten Follow Up Rule, Kelly Kennedy’s personal standard for building real pipeline through consistent, disciplined business development. Kelly shares why most sales and BD professionals stop far too early, how fear of rejection and lack of structure kill opportunities, and why every qualified prospect deserves at least ten follow-ups before being disqualified. Through real stories, including the time it took thirty follow-ups to book...

In Episode 338 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with Charlotte Lloyd to break down one of the biggest misconceptions in modern business development: that content alone will bring you clients. With over 20 years in B2B sales and millions in closed revenue, Charlotte shares how LinkedIn is often misunderstood as a content platform when in reality, it’s a conversation platform. She explains why most entrepreneurs struggle to convert attention into revenue, and how the re...

Episode 337 of The Business Development Podcast features a powerful and timely conversation with Brianna Solberg of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, diving deep into what is now being called Canada’s “Entrepreneurial Drought.” Backed by real data, the episode uncovers a troubling reality: more businesses are closing than opening in Canada for six consecutive quarters, marking the worst startup activity outside of the pandemic. Together, Kelly and Brianna break down the mounting p...

In episode 336 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly sits down with Andrew Z. Brown, a leading authority in B2B referral marketing, strategic alliances, and sales acceleration, to unpack a powerful truth most businesses overlook. Your biggest deals are not coming from cold outreach, ads, or chasing leads. They are coming from referrals. Andrew explains how a well timed and well informed referral can move a prospect from the top of the funnel to the bottom, often eliminating competitors enti...

Episode 335 of The Business Development Podcast features Rochelle Carrington, a former seven-figure sales leader who now helps high performers break through the invisible barriers holding them back. In this conversation, Rochelle introduces the concept of “performance drag,” the accumulated emotional pressure in the nervous system that quietly slows decision-making, clouds clarity, and makes growth feel harder than it should. She challenges the traditional belief that success starts with mindset...

Episode 334 with Ally Stone is a powerful journey through leadership, resilience, and what it truly means to put people first when everything is on the line. From building and scaling a multi-million-dollar restaurant group to leading through one of the most emotionally intense moments in business during COVID, Ally shares how real leadership shows up in action, not words. Her decision to feed hundreds of employees when the business shut down, instead of protecting margins, is a defining moment ...

Some moments in life don’t make sense… but they stay with you forever. In Episode 333 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with Mike Schoenberger, CEO of Sunco Communications, for a conversation that goes far beyond business strategy. Together, they explore two deeply personal experiences they’ve never fully been able to explain, moments where they both knew something had happened before they were ever told. What unfolds is a powerful discussion on human connection, intui...

In Episode 332 of The Business Development Podcast, Jeroen Kraaijenbrink challenges one of the most common misconceptions in business today: that strategy belongs to leadership. With over 20 years of experience across academia and consulting, Jeroen breaks down why traditional, top-down strategy approaches consistently fail and what it really takes to build strategies that stick. His human-centered approach reframes strategy as a shared capability, not a static plan, and introduces the idea that...

In this episode of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy breaks down the real difference between people who build something meaningful and those who never get started. Drawing from the rapid launch of his new show and years of entrepreneurial experience, he challenges the idea of failure, reframing it as iteration, evolution, and intentional pivots. This is a powerful reminder that success is not about perfection, it is about momentum, action, and staying in the game long enough to win...

In Episode 330 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with Jordan Labelle, entrepreneur, strategist, and founder of Evergreen Growth Collective, to break down what actually drives long-term success in business. Jordan shares his journey through corporate, startup, and solopreneur life, revealing how each step wasn’t failure, but refinement. Together, they challenge the traditional “hustle harder” mindset and unpack why most founders burn out trying to do everything instead ...

In Episode 329 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with Nausheen I. Chen, 3x TEDx speaker and Fortune 500 communication coach, to unpack why so many capable leaders struggle when it’s time to speak. From the fight, flight, or freeze response to the pressure of being seen and judged, Nausheen explains what’s really happening in your brain when you feel nervous, lose your words, or freeze under pressure. This episode breaks down the psychology behind communication and why ...

In Episode 328 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with sales strategist Trystan Keller to break down why so many businesses are struggling to convert effort into real revenue. Trystan shares his journey from early challenges to building high-performing sales teams, and delivers a direct, no-nonsense perspective on the disconnect between marketing, sales, and business development. At the core of the conversation is a powerful truth: most companies are trying to scale bef...

Episode 327 of The Business Development Podcast features Joel Zeff, a nationally recognized speaker, humorist, and work culture expert who has spent more than 25 years helping organizations build stronger teams and better leaders. In this conversation, Joel shares how losing his job became one of the most defining moments of his life when he walked out with a harmonica he did not even know how to play and used that moment to choose energy, humor, and resilience over defeat. That story becomes th...

Episode 326 of The Business Development Podcast features Chris Yeung, one of Edmonton’s most recognized business leaders, as he shares the defining moments that reshaped his life, career, and perspective on success. From building momentum in business development and entrepreneurship to facing the very real possibility of losing everything, Chris opens up about the pressure, the setbacks, and the moment he was forced to confront his ego and ask for help. What followed was not a quick fix, but a c...

Episode 325 is a powerful conversation with Jodi Barrett that explores the gap between mental strength and physical capacity. As high performers, many of us pride ourselves on pushing through challenges, staying disciplined, and showing up no matter what. But as Jodi shares through her own experience, there comes a point where the body starts to push back. What looks like strength on the outside can hide fatigue, disconnection, and a system that is no longer able to support the pace of life we a...

In Episode 324 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with Kris Marks, CEO of VIV Mental Health, keynote speaker, and psychological health and safety advisor, for one of the most powerful conversations on the show to date. Kris shares his deeply personal journey from trauma, homelessness, and a suicide attempt to becoming a national voice for mental health leadership and psychological safety in workplaces and communities. His story is raw, honest, and deeply human, revealin...