What if your entire company strategy fit on one slide? Jamie Church, CEO of Best Buy Medical, did exactly that and delivered growth in the process.

In this episode of CEOs Unscripted, Jane Gentry sits down with Canada's top medical supply distributor CEO to unpack how radical simplicity, obsessive customer focus, and authentic leadership culture can outperform any complex strategy.

If you're a mid-market CEO drowning in complexity, this episode will change how you think about strategy, people, and growth.

In this episode, you'll learn:
✅ The 3-priority strategy that drove growth, and why less is more
✅ How to actually operationalize "customer centricity" (not just say it)
✅ Why Jamie puts himself in every single new hire's onboarding — from warehouse to exec
✅ The "legends and heroes" culture framework that keeps long-tenured talent committed
✅ How to roll out strategy like a change management initiative (most CEOs miss this)
✅ Why your network is the most valuable career asset you'll ever build
✅ What it's really like working with private equity and what to ask before you say yes

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 — Cold open: Growth with zero breakdowns, here's how
00:54 — Welcome to CEOs Unscripted
02:29 — Meet Jamie Church, CEO of Best Buy Medical
03:07 — Jamie's 20-year career path & how network got him here
04:06 — Why Jamie left McKesson to run a mid-sized company
05:41 — What drew him to Best Buy Medical's culture & mission
07:08 — Culture as competitive advantage in healthcare distribution
07:54 — Why Jamie keeps strategy to just 3 priorities
08:19 — The 3 priorities: Customer Centricity, Innovation & Sustainability 08:39 — The growth story, how long & what drove it
09:58 — Investing in people, sustainability & domestic partners
11:12 — Involving the leadership team in strategy for the first time
12:11 — What "customer centricity" actually looks like in practice
13:40 — Legends & heroes: recognizing the people who go above and beyond
14:03 — How Jamie onboards every single new hire personally
15:46 — Why a strong culture self-selects out bad hires quickly
16:01 — Town halls, micro-meetings & keeping the whole org aligned
17:14 — Jane's "sneak test": walking the floor to check strategy alignment 18:59 — Milestone recognition programs & why personal notes matter
21:28 — The power of peer recognition over top-down praise
24:26 — What Jamie means by "network" and why it's everything
27:08 — Your network is your most valuable career asset
28:33 — The right way to build a network: give before you ask
30:45 — Building strategy with a leadership team of 8, all promoted from within
32:25 — The one-slide strategy: Jane's reaction says it all
33:12 — How often the leadership team checks in on progress
34:44 — Remote workforce, bi-weekly rhythms & full-team alignment days 36:15 — Change management in action: the Calgary DC move story
37:31 — Why every strategy rollout is a change management initiative
38:17 — What ACTUALLY broke during growth (the answer may surprise you)
40:54 — The "slingshot effect" pulling back to leap forward
42:30 — Keeping it simple is harder than it sounds
43:37 — What to know before taking a CEO role in a PE-backed company 45:21 — Rapid fire: best book, 5X CEO by Tabo Godstream
46:34 — Worst advice Jamie ever received
47:53 — Smartest person in his phone & why
48:33 — What to do when you feel stuck
49:08 — Jane's closing thoughts 🎙️

CEOs Unscripted is a bi-weekly podcast for mid-market CEOs — no fluff, no jargon, just real conversations from leaders who've been in the trenches.

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