What does it take to walk into a business that's hit a ceiling and double its revenue — not once, but three times?

In this episode of CEOs Unscripted, host Jane Gentry sits down with Buzz Bradley, a seasoned interim CEO and business growth strategist, to unpack the exact frameworks he uses to transform stalled mid-market companies into high-performance organizations.

In this episode, you'll learn:

Why most founders unknowingly become the biggest bottleneck in their own business
The first thing Buzz does in any new company (it's not what you think)
How to manage organizational change without losing your culture or your best people
Why promoting your top performer could be the most expensive mistake you make
The "teach to fish vs. do the fishing" debate — and when each approach wins
How cross-generational teams can become a competitive advantage
The simple mindset shift that makes faster, better decisions possible

Buzz's golden rule: "If it's going to take six months, it takes six months whether you start today or six months from now — so why not start today?"

Whether you're a founder navigating growing pains, a CEO preparing to scale past $20M, or a leader trying to build a business that doesn't depend entirely on you — this episode is packed with real talk and actionable insights.

Chapters:

00:00 – Intro & Buzz's background
04:30 – How Buzz gets into companies and doubles revenue
10:40 – The first thing to do when you take over a business
12:20 – Protecting culture during change
15:40 – Growing pains: when founders hit the ceiling
20:30 – Moving people into the right roles
26:00 – Managing change without creating chaos
33:00 – Developing talent on a budget
38:00 – Cross-generational teams
43:00 – Rapid fire: books, habits & decisiveness
47:00 – Why starting today beats waiting for perfect

Keywords: interim CEO, scaling a business, mid-market growth, business leadership, CEO coaching, organizational design, growing pains, founder-led business, business strategy, executive leadership, how to scale a company, CEO podcast, entrepreneurship, talent retention, decision making for CEOs

Subscribe to CEOs Unscripted — the bi-weekly podcast for mid-market CEOs who want unfiltered, real-world leadership conversations. No fluff. No jargon. Just the playbooks that actually work.

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