Sales POP! Podcasts: Insights from Top Experts in Sales, Marketing, Leadership & More.

Maximos Lih, founder and CEO of Emboldened LLC and former Google Ventures operating partner, explains how leaders win in the agentic age by treating AI failure as a business opportunity rather than a layoff equation. He shows how IKEA reskilled 8,500 service agents to build a $1.4 billion interior design business rather than cutting headcount. Connect with Maximos: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maximoslih/

Glenn Sandifer, a 20-year sales and marketing executive at Securos USA, explains how sales leaders can adopt AI responsibly by automating manual tasks like list-building and follow-up while keeping a human in control of every first touch and close. He makes the case that AI's biggest gift to leaders is time — time to return to the weekly one-to-one coaching that builds rep confidence. Learn more at https://www.glennsandifer.com/

Chad Coe, Founder of Coe Financial Group and author of The Power of Peopleizing, explains how to win more sales by leading with genuine care instead of a pitch — using his 3% rule and a long-game follow-up system that reframes ghosting as testing. He shares why patience and faith separate the top 1–2% from everyone else. Learn more at coefinancial.com.

Executive coach Julian Lighton, author of Navigating Your Next and a former McKinsey associate partner, explains how to take control of your career by clarifying what you truly want and building a deliberate path to get it through his seven-step framework. He breaks down the four unavoidable career transitions, why no meaningful goal is reached alone, and why success always comes at a cost. Learn more at https://www.julianlighton.com/.

Deri Llewellyn-Davies, Strategist & Board Advisor and Founder of Freedom Founders, explains that peak performance is a state problem, not a motivation problem — you shift it by choosing flow, focus, peak, recovery, and connect states through breathwork, phone-free mornings, and purpose. He shares flow research showing 500% productivity gains from two protected morning hours, and why burnout stems from values misalignment rather than workload. Connect with Deri: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thestrategyman/

Lee Benson, Founder and CEO of Execute to Win and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, joins John Golden to challenge the growth-at-all-costs mindset and unpack the three categories of value creation that powered his 21.6x EBITDA exit at Able Aerospace. Learn more at https://www.etw.com/about.

Greg Hoover, author of Lead Anyway and former CEO of Bekins Van Lines, Arnold Relocation, and New World Van Lines, joins John Golden to challenge the idea that leadership belongs only to those with titles. He shares the habits — decisiveness, simplicity, and intentional mentorship — that empower any employee to lead from where they stand. Learn more at https://www.thirdstar.net/.

Dustin Kenyon, Chief Revenue Officer at Motivosity, joins John Golden to explore what human leadership looks like in an AI-driven world. Dustin shares why the learner's journey is now non-negotiable for every professional, how to cut through AI-generated noise, and why his executive team operates by a simple rule: no dinosaurs. Learn more at https://www.motivosity.com/.

Ilana Golan, CEO and Founder of Leap Academy and a former F-16 flight instructor turned Intel VP, joins John Golden to unpack why portfolio careers and the Adaptability Quotient (AQ) now matter more than any title in an AI-driven job market. She shares the four-step reinvention framework she teaches to mid- and late-career professionals worldwide. Learn more at https://www.leapacademy.com/.

Jürgen Dauk, Transformation Consultant and Founder of The Leadership OS, joins John Golden to explain why AI without organizational transformation is destined to fail. Drawing on 25 years of senior leadership and NLP coaching expertise, Jürgen walks leaders through the vision, structure, and mindset shifts that turn AI investment into real competitive advantage. Learn more at https://theleadership-os.com/.

Travis Hahler, Senior Director of Global Strategy & Transformation at Salesforce and founder of The Neurological Nomad, joins John Golden to explain why resistance to change is biology, not rebellion — and how leaders can read resistance as diagnostic information instead of personal pushback. Learn more at https://www.theneurologicalnomad.com/.

Kelly Faetanini, founder and lead designer of Kelly Faetanini Bridal, joins Sales POP! to share the customer-centric playbook that turned her brand into a leader in luxury bridal — covering authenticity, hiring for emotional intelligence, and why a grounded leader outperforms a frantic one in any high-pressure industry. A practical conversation with lessons that apply far beyond wedding fashion. Learn more at https://www.kellyfaetanini.com/.

April Martini and Anne Candido, co-founders of Forthright People and authors of The Power of Your Personal Brand, join John Golden to explain why middle managers stall and how a deliberate personal brand becomes their competitive advantage. They share a four-part framework built on 45 combined years of branding experience and show how to apply it in 20-minute chunks. Learn more at https://forthright-people.com/.