James Hayden Rising

About this episode

James Hayden shares his journey of discovering his biological roots and how it reshaped his identity and leadership approach.

James Hayden is a fractional CRO and go-to-market strategist who helps founders and executive teams build revenue engines that actually match how buyers make decisions today. With a background spanning enterprise sales, partnerships, and digital media, he specializes in turning scattered sales activity into clear, repeatable systems that drive predictable growth. Beneath the professional story is a much more personal one. James is an adoptee who spent most of his life not knowing his biological roots and only later discovered who he truly is—including the revelation that he has 15 half-siblings. That journey of identity, belonging, and redefining “family” as an adult reshaped how he sees himself, others, and his role as a leader. On The Human Journey — Your Story, James opens up about what it means to search for your origins without a map, how he navigated the emotional and practical realities of discovering a new family in midlife, and why this experience deepened his empathy, resilience, and commitment to real human connection in business and beyond. James will also amplify this episode across his 27,000+ first-degree LinkedIn network and his audiences on Instagram, X, Threads…

People in this episode

Host: David Hackett

Guest: James Hayden

Topics covered

• identity
• belonging
• family
• leadership
• empathy
• growth

Keywords

• CRO
• go-to-market strategist
• adoptee
• sales systems
• predictable growth
• human connection
• storytelling

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: LinkedIn, Instagram, Threads, TikTok

More episodes of The Human Journey: Your Story with David Hackett

• The Man That I Would Become · June 10, 2026 · 30 min
• The Rickshaw Journey - Finding Your Voice, Leading with Purpose · June 9, 2026 · 30 min
• What’s Your Catalyst? The Power of Managed Change · June 3, 2026 · 26 min
• Vante's Story · May 25, 2026 · 35 min
• Advocate2Create · May 22, 2026 · 44 min
• Being the True Me with Brian · May 20, 2026 · 23 min