Culture From the Heart

Who leads, what changes, where does culture show up, when does transformation begin, and why do employees stay when a 17,000-person company chooses servant leadership over selfish leadership?In this episode of the Culture From the Heart Podcast, hosts Darrell Amy and Larry Levine sit down with Mark Whitacer, Vice President of Culture and Care at Coca-Cola Consolidated and Executive Director of the TFactor Initiative.Mark reveals how Coca-Cola Consolidated is working toward an ambitious vision: developing more than 17,000 servant leaders across every level of the organization—from senior executives to frontline teammates and forklift drivers. At the heart of this mission is a simple but challenging leadership question: Are you serving the people around you, or are you primarily serving yourself?Mark walks through the company’s LEADS leadership model:Listen at a deeper levelShow genuine EmpathyAdvocate for your employeesDevelop the people around youPractice Self-reflection and prayerHe also explains how Coca-Cola Consolidated turns its values into visible action through employee chaplains and care partners, a teammate benevolence fund, disaster-response teams, leadership development, servant-leader awards, and community volunteerism.These initiatives have helped create a culture where employees feel known, supported, and valued. While many people initially join the organization because of the Coca-Cola brand, Mark says the culture is what inspires them to stay.The conversation also explores the TFactor Initiative, which shares Coca-Cola Consolidated’s culture-building principles with leaders and organizations around the world. Mark explains how companies can begin transforming their workplaces by shifting from “What’s in it for me?” to “What’s in it for the people around me?”This episode challenges every leader to take an honest look in the mirror and decide what kind of leadership legacy they want to create.KEY TAKEAWAYSEvery leader is either serving others or serving themselves. Servant leadership begins when leaders place the needs, development, and success of others ahead of personal recognition.Culture must be translated into repeatable behaviors. Coca-Cola Consolidated’s LEADS model gives leaders a practical framework for listening, demonstrating empathy, advocating for employees, developing others, and reflecting on their performance.Employees stay where they feel genuinely cared for. Benevolence funds, chaplains, care partners, disaster-response teams, and supportive leadership demonstrate that employee care must extend beyond words.Service becomes contagious. When employees experience meaningful care inside the workplace, they are more likely to serve their teammates, customers, and surrounding communities.Organizational transformation starts with personal transformation. Leaders change culture by moving from “What’s in it for me?” to “What’s in it for others around me?”QUOTES“If you're not a servant leader, you're, you're a selfish leader.”“We should be listening more than we're talking.”“The more you serve, the more the others around you start to serve.”“Culture trumps everything.”“When you go from what's in it for me, when you go to what's in it for others around you, that's transformation.”Learn more about Darrell and Larry.Darrell’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrellamy/Larry’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larrylevine1992/Connect and learn more from Mark Whitacre.https://faithdrivenentrepreneur.org/mark-whitacre/Ready to begin realizing the full potential of your sales team? Hire Great Salespeople with Confidence. SCHEDULE YOUR EXECUTIVE BRIEFING.https://sellingfromtheheart.net/hiringUnlock The Power of Team Growth with Learnit’s Live Training Platform. CLAIM your 45-day trial of unlimited training now!https://www.learnit.com/lp/cultureStop gambling on interviews. Combine analytics with a sales recruiting system to screen out non-performers so you only interview candidates that can become great salespeople.https://hiringguide.salesindex.ai/

In this episode of Culture From the Heart Podcast, hosts Darrell Amy and Larry Levine are joined by Omid Khalifeh, founder and CEO of Omni Legal Group — a premier patent, trademark, and copyright law firm in Los Angeles — to explore building a purpose-driven, heart-centered culture inside an industry known for the opposite. Khalifeh frames leading with purpose as coming in each day to leave the world slightly better than you found it, and explains how the firm ascribes meaning to its work by connecting directly with the smaller, closely held clients it serves. He describes how personal values — family, faith, and integrity — are intertwined with the firm’s values from the top down, and shares the firm’s signature practice of having young attorneys hand-deliver every cease and desist letter to the post office, a ritual designed to keep them mindful that their words carry real-world consequences for real people, not faceless entities. Khalifeh discusses sustaining a family-community environment, the discipline of protecting the boundaries you set as overhead and pressure mount, the permanent “stain” a compromised decision leaves behind, and the resilience and faith required when the tide gets rough. He closes on legacy — wanting above all to be remembered as a good dad — with a charge to plant seeds whose shade you may never sit under, and to never hesitate to lead from your heart.KEY TAKEAWAYSLeading with purpose means showing up each day to leave the world slightly better than you found it.Meaning starts with connection — you can’t advocate for clients until you understand what they’re trying to achieve.Values flow from the top down; you can’t expect of your team what you aren’t willing to live yourself.Personal values and company values should be intertwined, not separate sets of words on a wall.Words carry downstream consequences — hand-delivering every cease and desist letter keeps attorneys mindful they’re affecting real people, not faceless entities.A family-community culture means knowing how your people are doing at home, not just at work.As an organization grows, pressure to compromise grows — protect the boundaries you set at the outset.Fame, money, and possessions are fleeting; the stain of a bad decision is permanent and hard to scrub off.Be resilient and keep faith — when one door closes, another opens; lead with your principles.Legacy is about the next generation — plant seeds whose shade you may never sit under.QUOTES“We come in here every day with an objective to leave the world slightly better than how it was when we entered it.”“The first step is always that connection, because if you don’t understand what it is that they’re trying to achieve, it’s that much more difficult to try to advocate for them.”“We can’t expect it of our team if we don’t have those values ourselves. So you have to practice what you preach.”“These are not faceless entities. These are real people, and there will be consequences for the work that we’re doing here. So never lose sight of that.”“Always bear in mind that you wanna lead from a place where your values are not compromised.”“The stain that a bad decision will leave on you permanently is something that’s not easy to scrub off.”“When one door closes, another one will surely open. Have faith and then push forward, keeping your values front of mind always.”“Plant seeds whose shade you may never sit under.”“Don’t hesitate to lead from your heart.”Learn more about Darrell and Larry.Darrell’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrellamy/Larry’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larrylevine1992/Connect and learn more from Omid Khalifeh.https://www.linkedin.com/in/omni-legal-group-030aa046/Ready to begin realizing the full potential of your sales team? Hire Great Salespeople with Confidence. SCHEDULE YOUR EXECUTIVE BRIEFING.https://sellingfromtheheart.net/hiringUnlock The Power of Team Growth with Learnit’s Live Training Platform. CLAIM your 45-day trial of unlimited training now!https://www.learnit.com/lp/cultureStop gambling on interviews. Combine analytics with a sales recruiting system to screen out non-performers so you only interview candidates that can become great salespeople.https://hiringguide.salesindex.ai/

In this episode of Culture From the Heart Podcast, hosts Larry Levine and Darrell Amy are joined by Marina Ivanov, CEO and co-founder of Apex Transit and Logistics. Marina explains leading from the heart as leading from one’s true self, shaped by witnessing both good and bad leadership, and emphasizes empathy as understanding others’ complex situations through curiosity while maintaining boundaries. Describing Apex’s culture, she highlights respect—especially for drivers—and ownership, aiming to change industry bias and create a safe, non-aggressive workplace through clear communication standards and accountability that build credibility. Marina also discusses intuition as a learnable muscle guiding hiring and culture decisions, sharing her growth in confidence as a young woman in a male-dominated industry and the importance of inner work, compassion, and not taking things personally.KEY TAKEAWAYSLeading from the heart means leading from your authentic self — not following a script or policy, but genuinely understanding the human in front of you.Empathy is a superpower, not a weakness — when properly harnessed with boundaries, it becomes a magnetic leadership quality that builds deep loyalty.Respect is the foundation of culture — especially in industries where frontline workers (like truck drivers) are often overlooked or undervalued.Intuition is a muscle — the more leaders listen to their gut, the stronger and more trustworthy it becomes in hiring, culture, and decision-making.Credibility is built 360° — it's not just what you say to people's faces, but who you are when no one's watching.Inner work fuels outer leadership — overcoming limiting beliefs about yourself directly impacts how your team and company show up.When you pour into others, they pour back — a culture of genuine care creates teams that go above and beyond, even in crisis.One person can create a ripple — cultural change starts with a single committed leader modeling the behavior they want to see.QUOTES"Leading from the heart is finding out who you are authentically and then leading from that space." — Marina Ivanov"It's never gonna be black and white. The heart means you understand the human standing in front of you.""Empathy to me is leading with curiosity — I know there's more, so I'm curious.""You can't fake energy. If you show up to them with disrespect, even if your words say one thing, your energy will say something different.""Intuition is a muscle. The more we listen to it, the stronger it becomes.""You don't have to wait for anyone to believe in you. You start believing that — and it just ripples.""When you pour into others, they will pour into you in return.""Pour into your people. I promise you this — they'll run through brick walls for you."Learn more about Darrell and Larry.Darrell's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrellamy/Larry's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larrylevine1992/Connect and learn more from Marina Ivanov.https://www.linkedin.com/in/marina-ivanov-4a9144194/Ready to begin realizing the full potential of your sales team? Hire Great Salespeople with Confidence. SCHEDULE YOUR EXECUTIVE BRIEFING.https://sellingfromtheheart.net/hiringUnlock The Power of Team Growth with Learnit’s Live Training Platform. CLAIM your 45-day trial of unlimited training now!https://www.learnit.com/lp/cultureStop gambling on interviews. Combine analytics with a sales recruiting system to screen out non-performers so you only interview candidates that can become great salespeople.https://hiringguide.salesindex.ai/

In this episode of Culture From the Heart Podcast, hosts Larry Levine and Darrell Amy are joined by Hugo E. Gomez, founder and CEO of HispanicMarketing.com, about “culture from the heart” as leading with emotional intelligence. Hugo explains that in a mostly remote company this means being present digitally, reading tone and body language, and regularly checking alignment with the company mission while recognizing whether team members are emotionally capable of handling small-business “valleys.” He describes hiring for resilience and lived adversity, filtering for comfort with failure and autonomy through questions about failed projects, and operating a performance-based, data-oriented culture using EOS-style scorecards. For virtual teams, he recommends intentional in-person gatherings, building trust through stronger screening, and using objective accountability systems with measurable metrics, response-time expectations, and meeting readiness as indicators for when someone may be struggling, followed by empathetic check-ins.KEY TAKEAWAYSEmotional intelligence is the foundation of leadership — it's not about making people happy, but ensuring they're aligned with the company's mission.Emotional capability matters more than credentials — the ability to handle failure and adversity is a better hiring indicator than an Ivy League degree.Hire for resilience, not pedigree — candidates who've faced and overcome hardship bring the grit small businesses actually need.Failure is built into growth — 90% of experiments will fail; a leader's job is to find the 10% breakthrough and double down on it.Remote culture demands intentional in-person connection — virtual teams must schedule regular gatherings (at least annually) to sustain real culture.Trust + accountability systems = remote success — metrics, scorecards, and red/green/yellow dashboards replace the visibility you lose in a physical office.Autonomy to fail is a cultural asset — empowering team members to make decisions and fail independently is undervalued in small businesses.Before assuming disengagement, ask questions — a culture-from-the-heart leader checks in on the person behind the performance.QUOTES"People are your biggest leverage in a business. If you know how to work with people on the people level, you're going to get the most out of them.""All the lights on the dashboard have to be green — stable income, predictable days, good relationships at home. You have to remove as much dissonance from your life to be a high performer.""Our job is not to make sure they're happy — it's to make sure their version of peace is aligned with the mission of our company.""Have you seen the worst happen, and have you come out on the other side? If the answer is yes, then we really need to talk.""Getting punched in the face is when you learn the most.""If you can't measure it, you can't manage to it.""You could still have a great culture even if your employees aren't connected every day. You just have to work harder on it."Learn more about Darrell and Larry.Darrell's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrellamy/Larry's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larrylevine1992/Connect and learn more from Hugo E. Gomez.https://www.linkedin.com/in/bilingualmarketing/Ready to begin realizing the full potential of your sales team? Hire Great Salespeople with Confidence. SCHEDULE YOUR EXECUTIVE BRIEFING.https://sellingfromtheheart.net/hiringUnlock The Power of Team Growth with Learnit’s Live Training Platform. CLAIM your 45-day trial of unlimited training now!https://www.learnit.com/lp/cultureStop gambling on interviews. Combine analytics with a sales recruiting system to screen out non-performers so you only interview candidates that can become great salespeople.https://hiringguide.salesindex.ai/

In this episode of Culture From the Heart Podcast, hosts Larry Levine and Darrell Amy are joined by Justin Ricklefs, the founder and CEO of the Guild Collective. They discuss the importance of incorporating heart-centered leadership within organizations. Justin shares his personal journey of transitioning from a head-focused to a heart-focused leadership style. They explore practical strategies such as curiosity-driven dialogues and structured feedback sessions for understanding employee perspectives. Justin emphasizes the significance of storytelling as a powerful tool for sales and building authentic connections with both employees and customers. The episode highlights actionable advice for leaders aiming to cultivate a culture of empathy, connection, and trust.KEY TAKEAWAYS• Heart-centered leadership requires personal work - Leaders must understand their own hearts, pain, and challenges before building authentic culture• Curiosity over certainty - Leading with compassionate curiosity and sourcing team perspectives creates better outcomes than command-and-control approaches• Structured heart connection - Implementing regular "Perspectives" meetings (biannual 90-minute sessions) helps surface important team issues that wouldn't emerge through open-door policies alone• Story is the ultimate sales strategy - Humans connect through stories, not facts and figures; brands that position customers as heroes (not themselves) build loyalty• Heart work is hard work - Building heart connectivity is more difficult than surveillance and control, but essential for authentic leadership and healthy cultureQUOTES• "It's really, really challenging to lead well from a shallow heart."• "Story is the greatest sales avenue ever created. Story is the best sales strategy period."• "I've never regretted sourcing the perspective of my team."• "The heart connectivity piece is really difficult. Don't fool ourselves. It's hard work. It's much easier to try to command and control and surveil people."• "The distance between the head and the heart feels like a mile away, even though it's 18 inches."• "You can't have culture from the heart if the leadership team isn't doing their own work to understand their own journey, their own pain."• "The brand thinks of itself far too highly. The customer is the hero of the story."Learn more about Darrell and Larry.Darrell's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrellamy/Larry's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larrylevine1992/Connect and learn more from Justin Ricklefs.https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinricklefs/Ready to begin realizing the full potential of your sales team? Hire Great Salespeople with Confidence. SCHEDULE YOUR EXECUTIVE BRIEFING.https://sellingfromtheheart.net/hiringUnlock The Power of Team Growth with Learnit’s Live Training Platform. CLAIM your 45-day trial of unlimited training now!https://www.learnit.com/lp/cultureStop gambling on interviews. Combine analytics with a sales recruiting system to screen out non-performers so you only interview candidates that can become great salespeople.https://hiringguide.salesindex.ai/

In this episode of Culture From the Heart Podcast, Larry Levine and Darrell Amy reflect on their first year of interviewing visionary heart-centered leaders. They discuss the importance of authenticity, love, and trust in the workplace. The episode revisits inspiring conversations with CEOs who have created exceptional company cultures focused on empowering employees, serving clients, and uplifting communities. The dialogue emphasizes the significance of nurturing genuine relationships, fostering emotional security, and the role of leadership in cultivating a supportive and loving work environment. As they move into the next year, the hosts express gratitude to their guests, sponsors, and listeners, reiterating their commitment to continue showcasing leaders who practice heart-centered leadership.KEY TAKEAWAYSLeading with heart and authenticity transforms organizations and empowers people.Love, care, and vulnerability are essential for building strong workplace cultures.Investing in people and culture yields long-term success, even in challenging times.True leadership means serving others, listening deeply, and fostering trust.Culture is intentional—shape it, don’t leave it to chance.QUOTES“We’re not in the chicken business, we’re in the people business.”“You can’t take the human away… it’s going to take people, it’s going to take culture, it’s going to take heart.”“Using people to build a business versus using a business to build people.”“If you could love on your people, they will actually run through a brick wall.”Learn more about Darrell and Larry.Darrell's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrellamy/Larry's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larrylevine1992/Ready to begin realizing the full potential of your sales team? Hire Great Salespeople with Confidence. SCHEDULE YOUR EXECUTIVE BRIEFING.https://sellingfromtheheart.net/hiringUnlock The Power of Team Growth with Learnit’s Live Training Platform. CLAIM your 45-day trial of unlimited training now!https://www.learnit.com/lp/cultureStop gambling on interviews. Combine analytics with a sales recruiting system to screen out non-performers so you only interview candidates that can become great salespeople.https://hiringguide.salesindex.ai/

In this episode of Culture From the Heart Podcast, hosts Larry Levine and Darrell Amy are joined by Ryan Wall, CEO of FHI. They discuss the profound impact of having a heart-centered culture within an organization. Ryan shares the key principles guiding FHI, structured around the metaphorical 'four chambers of the heart,' encompassing purpose, vision, values, people, continuous improvement, and strategy. He emphasizes the importance of leaders guarding their hearts, offering practical advice on how to maintain a healthy and elite heart to positively influence business culture and performance. The episode also highlights the significant role of storytelling and leadership in promoting and maintaining a strong, compassionate culture within the company.KEY TAKEAWAYSGuarding your own heart is foundational to leading others and shaping organizational culture.Leaders must be relentless storytellers, cascading values and purpose throughout the organization.You cannot give what you do not have—self-care and personal growth are essential for effective leadership.Organizational culture thrives when purpose, vision, values, people, continuous improvement, and strategy are clearly defined and protected.Small, intentional daily practices (like solitude, gratitude, and reflection) replenish leaders and set the tone for their teams.QUOTES“How you treat your own heart will eventually be how you treat the heart of other people.”“You cannot give what you do not have.”“Everything rises and falls on leadership.”“If you want an elite mind, you must first have an elite heart.”“Schedule the times with yourself with the same tenacity and level of priority that you would a multimillion dollar client.”Learn more about Darrell and Larry.Darrell's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrellamy/Larry's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larrylevine1992/Connect and learn more from Ryan Wall.https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-wall-420a8a/Ready to begin realizing the full potential of your sales team? Hire Great Salespeople with Confidence. SCHEDULE YOUR EXECUTIVE BRIEFING.https://sellingfromtheheart.net/hiringUnlock The Power of Team Growth with Learnit’s Live Training Platform. CLAIM your 45-day trial of unlimited training now!https://www.learnit.com/lp/cultureStop gambling on interviews. Combine analytics with a sales recruiting system to screen out non-performers so you only interview candidates that can become great salespeople.https://hiringguide.salesindex.ai/

In this episode of Culture From the Heart Podcast, hosts Larry Levine and Darrell Amy are joined by Jamie Shaver, CEO and founder of AMPED, a full-service strategic marketing agency. Jamie shares her insights on integrating love and core values into the workplace to create an authentic and trustworthy culture. She discusses the importance of clear communication, accountability, and intentional management of both brand and culture. The conversation also touches on the need for leaders to be congruent and authentic in their actions and to foster a work environment where employees feel valued and aligned with the company's mission. Practical examples include Amped's core values and screening processes, which emphasize grit, ownership, and a solution-oriented mindset. This episode provides valuable lessons for leaders aiming to cultivate a heart-centered culture in their organizations.KEY TAKEAWAYSCulture from the heart means leading with love, expressed through action and clarity.Authentic company culture is defined by what employees and clients experience, not just what leaders say.Intentional management and alignment of core values are essential to building trust and eradicating mediocrity.Accountability, ownership, and grit are core to high-performing teams.Regularly reviewing and living out core values ensures congruency and authenticity.Great leadership starts with leading oneself and modeling the desired culture.QUOTES"Love is not a feeling. Love is action.""A brand is not what you say it is; it's what your consumer says it is. The same is true with culture.""Are the leaders congruent? Does the walk match the talk?""Being clear is loving.""You cannot eradicate mediocrity if you yourself are mediocre.""If our own behavior was duplicated hundreds of thousands of times, what kind of impact would that have on the business?""Great cultures start with the heart."Learn more about Darrell and Larry.Darrell's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrellamy/Larry's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larrylevine1992/Connect and learn more from Jamie Shaver.https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-shaver-amped/Ready to begin realizing the full potential of your sales team? Hire Great Salespeople with Confidence. SCHEDULE YOUR EXECUTIVE BRIEFING.https://sellingfromtheheart.net/hiringUnlock The Power of Team Growth with Learnit’s Live Training Platform. CLAIM your 45-day trial of unlimited training now!https://www.learnit.com/lp/cultureStop gambling on interviews. Combine analytics with a sales recruiting system to screen out non-performers so you only interview candidates that can become great salespeople.https://hiringguide.salesindex.ai/