Finding Peak w/ Ryan Hanley

I was 17 years old. Kitchen table my mom bought at a garage sale. I hand-wrote 17 letters to college baseball coaches with a message no teenager should have the nerve to send: my family is broke, whoever gives me the most money, that's where I'm going.

I help founders & executives generating more than $10M in revenue find their Easy Mode. Start here: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribeWatch this episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/ryanmhanley---We are facing an epidemic of intellectual laziness. Leaders are handing over their creative output to machines. They are letting their problem-solving muscles atrophy. This is a massive mistake.Ryan Hawk joins me to break down the real cost of outsourcing your thinking. We dig into why curiosity is the ultimate competitive advantage. We cover the brutal truth about excuses and how they soften your character. We get into why being coachable is the single most intoxicating trait a leader can possess.If you want to build long-term success, you cannot be closed off to feedback. You need truth tellers in your corner. You need to pay the price of becoming.Ryan Hawk is the host of The Learning Leader Show and author of The Price of Becoming. He has interviewed hundreds of the world's most brilliant minds on leadership and high performance. He is one of the sharpest thinkers I have had on this show.Subscribe to his Mindful Mondays newsletter at learningleader.com.Connect with Ryan Hawk:Website: https://learningleader.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanhawk12/Book: The Price of Becoming: https://amzn.to/4fz6nYtFollow Ryan Hanley:Website: https://ryanhanley.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/ryan_hanleyX: https://x.com/ryanhanley_comThis is the way.Hanley.This show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators. 👉 Learn more at https://unpluggedstudios.fm.

I help founders & executives generating more than $10M in revenue find their Easy Mode. Start here: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribeWatch this episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/ryanmhanleyWhat got you here will not get you there.The world is moving faster than any of us expected. Jobs are disappearing overnight. Industries are getting rebuilt from scratch. And the people who are winning are not the ones with the highest IQ or the most emotional intelligence. They are the ones who can handle change, disappointment, and uncertainty without losing their footing.That is AQ. Your Agility Quotient.In this episode, we break down why hustle culture is a lie. We explore the difference between taste and pastiche in an AI-driven world. We dig into the four archetypes of agility and how to figure out which one you are. We talk about the end of history illusion and why your past success might be the biggest threat to your future growth.This one is a gut check. Take notes.Liz Tran coaches the CEOs and founders of the fastest-growing companies on the planet. Her clients have raised more than $1 billion in funding from firms like A16Z, Sequoia, and Y Combinator. She spent a decade in tech, including four years as the only female executive at one of the largest venture funds in the world. She is the author of "The Karma of Success" and "AQ: A New Kind of Intelligence for a World That's Always Changing" (Penguin Random House, 2026 ).Take the AQ Quiz: https://aqquiz.com/Connect with Liz Tran:Website: https://liz-tran.com/AQ (Book ): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/786825/aq-by-liz-tran/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liztranwrites/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liztran1/Follow Ryan:Website: https://ryanhanley.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/ryan_hanleyThis show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators. 👉 Learn more at https://unpluggedstudios.fm.

I help founders & executives generating more than $10M in revenue find their Easy Mode. Start here: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribeWatch this episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/ryanmhanley---You’ve been lied to.Open up any business podcast and you’ll hear the same tired advice: Burn the boats. Swing for the fences. Bet it all on a moonshot.According to Sir Richard Harpin, that’s a fantastic way to bankrupt your company.In 1993, Richard took £50,000 and started a home emergency repair business called HomeServe. Thirty years later, he sold it to Brookfield Asset Management for £4.1 billion. He didn’t do it by being a cowboy. He did it through ruthless discipline, small bets, and a willingness to admit when he was the bottleneck in his own company.In this episode, Richard breaks down his exact 9-step playbook: why you should copy your competitors, how to buy a "boring" business with vendor finance, the 15% rule for global expansion, and why hiring your replacement is the ultimate Easy Mode.If you want to build a massive business without the ego, this episode is your blueprint.This is the way.— Ryan HanleyConnect with Sir Richard BookBook — How to Make a Billion in 9 Steps: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-to-make-a-billion-in-nine-steps-richard-harpin/1147872744?ean=9780349445403Website: https://www.richardharpin.com/Business Leader: https://businessleader.co.uk/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rharpin/This show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators. 👉 Learn more at https://unpluggedstudios.fm.

I help founders & executives generating more than $10M in revenue find their Easy Mode. Start here: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribeWatch this episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/ryanmhanleyYou’ve been doing it wrong.You think negotiation is a battle across a boardroom table. You think it’s about being the loudest, the hardest, the one who refuses to budge.Here is the truth: The most expensive negotiation you will ever lose is the one happening inside your own head before you even open your mouth.Today on Finding Peak, I sit down with Attia Qureshi—former MIT faculty, U.S. State Department consultant, and author of Never Settle. We break down why your "hard shell" is actually costing you money, power, and relationships.We cover:Why 40% of men under 30 have never asked a woman out in person (and what it means for the future of business).The "Lemonade Strategy" that turned a hostile neighbor into a massive real estate asset.How to stop negotiating with yourself and adopt the Mamba Mentality.The exact script to guess someone's hidden motives without setting off a landmine.If you are tired of leaving money on the table and walking away from conversations wishing you had asked for more, this episode is your playbook.Grab Attia's new bookNever Settle: https://amzn.to/3P8YAWsGet her free Emotion Wheel tool: https://www.attiaqureshi.com/archetypequizThis is the way.HanleyThis show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators. 👉 Learn more at https://unpluggedstudios.fm.

I help founders & executives generating more than $10M in revenue find their Easy Mode. Start here: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribeWatch this episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/ryanmhanleyThe game is rigged. You've heard it your whole life. Wall Street has the data. The little guy can't win. The system is built for the rich to get richer.All of it is true. None of it matters.Because you can't run in the Victim Olympics and take home a gold medal in wealth. The two activities cancel each other out.In this episode of Finding Peak, I sit down with Chris Sain — self-made multi-millionaire trader, retired at 35, bestselling author, and the leader of one of the largest financial communities in the country. Chris is the millionaire next door. He wears a hat. He drives a used car. He talks plain. And he's spent the last decade teaching everyday people how to actually win in a market designed to shake them out.Inside this conversation:Why your friends might be the single biggest tax on your wealthThe "trick, trap, and frustrate" pattern Wall Street uses on retail investors — and how to spot itWhy you should invest in leaders, not logos (and the two CEOs Chris is betting on right now)The psychology of holding when everyone around you is panic-sellingHow Chris built an empire of 1M+ followers by showing up 7 days a week — wins and lossesIf you're a leader, founder, or operator who's tired of the victim narrative and ready to actually build, this is your playbook.Play it anyway. And win.This is the way.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━CONNECT WITH CHRIS SAINWebsite: https://chrissain.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisSain1━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━CONNECT WITH RYAN HANLEYSubstack: https://ryanhanley.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RyanMHanleyX: https://x.com/RyanHanley_Com━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━This show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators. 👉 Learn more at https://unpluggedstudios.fm.

I help founders & executives generating more than $10M in revenue find their Easy Mode. Start here: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribe

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/ryanmhanley

You've been networking wrong.

Most people think networking is about collecting business cards or spamming LinkedIn connections. They think it's about what they can get.

Here's the truth. Networking is about proximity. And proximity is a cheat code.

In Episode #114 of Finding Peak, Ryan sits down with Ken Joslin — former pastor, eight-figure mortgage broker, founder of GrowStack Drive, and the host of America's largest faith-based entrepreneur conference. Ken is the guy who texts Grant Cardone, John Maxwell, and Gary Brecka. He didn't get there by accident.

Ken's journey shifted when he realized he was only two things away from the next level: the right relationship and the right information. He bought a $1,000 mentorship program from a guy he had never heard of, sat in the second row, and closed a $3 million commercial real estate deal a few weeks later. He collapsed years of trial and error into days.

But how do you get in the room if you don't have the money? You use the highest frequency emotion — authenticity. It is seven times higher than the frequency of love and it is the most sought-after frequency in any room.

Great leaders want something FOR people, not FROM people. Ken built his network by investing his time, talent, and treasure. He flew to them. He connected them. He bought the most expensive seats at their events. He gave, and gave, and gave. The right hook took care of itself.

Then it gets counterintuitive. To move fast, you have to be still. Entrepreneurs are addicted to busyness. We think busyness equals growth. It doesn't. If the enemy can't make you bad, he'll make you busy. Ken blocks time every single day to be still, listen, and write down the vision. Growth happens in stillness before it happens in action.

Stop medicating your stress with Netflix, food, and alcohol. Get still. Write down your vision. Find the people who are already where you want to be. Invest in them. Give to them. Get in their proximity.

That's the cheat code.

This is the way.

🔗 Connect with Ken Joslin

• Website: https://www.growstackdrive.com/home
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kenjoslin/

This show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators. 👉 Learn more at https://unpluggedstudios.fm.

I help founders & executives generating more than $10M in revenue find their Easy Mode. Start here: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribeWatch to the video version of the podcast: https://youtu.be/t79tP7_7rpYComfort is a trap. Former Marine Corps Officer and Positive Psychology expert Jill Schulman breaks down the exact science of why avoiding hard things is quietly destroying your potential—and how to rewire your brain for bravery.We dive deep into the psychology of fear, why "someday" is the most dangerous word you can use, and the Stanford study that proves your mindset about stress can literally change your blood pressure. Plus, we get into the weeds on peptides, longevity, and why the younger generation is using "mental health" as an excuse to avoid friction.If you want to stop hesitating and start attacking the day, this episode is your blueprint.In this episode, we cover:👉 Why your brain is wired to avoid success (and how to fix it)👉 The Marine Corps strategy to "Attack the Day"👉 Why motivation is completely overrated👉 The Stanford study that proves stress is actually good for you👉 How to stop pressing "snooze" on your life goals👉 Ryan's specific peptide protocol for rapid recoveryConnect with Jill Schulman:Website & Free Bravery Assessment: https://www.jillschulman.com/Book: The Bravery Effect: https://amzn.to/4d8X8fYThis show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators. 👉 Learn more at https://unpluggedstudios.fm.

I founded, sold, and exited an 8-figure business. Now I help founders & executives generating more than $10M in revenue find their Easy Mode. Start here: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribeListen to the audio version of the podcast: https://linktr.ee/ryan_hanleyThe "Golden Goose" Trap: Why Investors Destroy Your Business (And How to Stop Them) | Eric RiesYou build a business. It works. It makes money. Then, you bring in investors or sell to Private Equity.And they immediately start tearing out the exact things that made you successful in the first place.They call it "professionalizing." You call it watching your baby die a death by a thousand cuts.Eric Ries, the legendary founder of the Lean Startup movement, calls it corruption. And in this episode, he explains exactly why it happens—and how to build an "incorruptible" company that they can't steal from you.We cover:Why standard Silicon Valley "best practices" are actively destroying value.The "Golden Goose" trap that catches 99% of successful founders.Why keeping your options open is the worst thing you can do for your company's future.How to spot the "Torchbearers" in your organization (and why you need them in a crisis).The truth about AI, Claude Code, and why this is the greatest time in history to start a business.If you've ever worried about losing control of the thing you built, you cannot afford to miss this.Links:• Get Eric's new book, Incorruptible: https://incorruptible.co• Follow Eric on X: https://x.com/ericriesThis is the way.HanleyThis show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators. 👉 Learn more at https://unpluggedstudios.fm.

I help founders & executives generating more than $10M in revenue find their Easy Mode. Start here: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribeListen to the audio version of the podcast: https://linktr.ee/ryan_hanleyMost people think the only way to start a new chapter is to quit, leap, and hope.That is stupid.In this episode, Mitch Matthews explains how smart leaders build an authority bridge from the life they have now to the life they actually want next. We talk about monetizing your expertise, why you should teach from the journey instead of the destination, how AI can help without replacing human energy, and why some of the best speakers in the world are actually introverts.If you know you are capable of more, but do not want to torch what is already working, this conversation will help.In this episode:👉 How to find the brilliance you cannot see in yourself👉 Why your next chapter should be a both/and, not an either/or👉 How AI helps great communicators get better instead of making them obsolete👉 Why live speaking, coaching, and real human energy still matter👉 How to build something meaningful without sacrificing your life to get itGuest: Mitch MatthewsSite: https://MitchMatthews.comFree training mentioned in the episode: https://MitchMatthews.com/time and use the code "peak"This show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators. 👉 Learn more at https://unpluggedstudios.fm.

I help founders & executives generating more than $1M in revenue find their Easy Mode. Start here: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribeWatch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/lKaYO5Hy5LIIf you are using AI to optimize for conversion rate, return on ad spend, or time-to-hire, you are pointing a self-driving car at the wrong address. And it’s going to take you there really, really fast.In this episode of Finding Peak, I sit down with Nicolas Darveau-Garneau, former Chief Evangelist at Google and author of "Be a Sequoia, Not a Bonsai." Nicolas has advised over 1,000 CEOs on digital transformation, and his conclusion is staggering: 90% of companies are optimizing the wrong KPIs.We break down the $15 Billion mistake companies make with AI, why Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is the only metric that actually matters, and how a simple mindset shift helped a local gym owner turn a $200K business into a $1.2M powerhouse without adding more members.Whether you run a Fortune 500 company or a Main Street bakery, this conversation will completely change how you deploy AI in your business.In this episode, we cover:👉 The $15 Billion AI mistake most companies are making right now👉 Why optimizing for conversion rate is killing your long-term profit👉 How to use AI to predict the future (and why you must get comfortable with forecasts)👉 The exact strategy a gym owner used to 6x his business by targeting 55-year-olds👉 How to build a limitless testing organization that your competitors can't catch👉 Why brand building is no longer just for massive corporations** Connect with Nicolas Darveau-Garneau **LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickdg/Book: Be a Sequoia, Not a Bonsai: https://amzn.to/4tdw84DThis show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators. 👉 Learn more at https://unpluggedstudios.fm.

I help founders & executives generating more than $1M in revenue find their Easy Mode. Start here: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribe

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/ryanmhanley

Paul Hutchinson led 70+ undercover child rescue missions in 15 countries and was the primary investor and executive producer of the Sound of Freedom movie. His most dangerous weapon wasn't combat training — it was learning to listen with his heart.

Connect with Paul Hutchinson

✅ Liberating Humanity: https://liberatinghumanity.com

✅ Child Liberation Foundation: https://childliberation.org

✅ Sound of Freedom Book: https://amzn.to/4cgMIKI

✅ Paul on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/paulhutchinson

More about this episode

This one hits different. Paul Hutchinson has lived a life most people can't imagine — building a billion-dollar investment fund, producing the most talked-about movie of 2023, and leading black-ops rescue missions that saved more than 7,000 children from trafficking networks across the globe.

But the conversation that unfolded wasn't what I expected. We got into the real stuff — the cell phone debate every parent is having right now, what sextortion actually looks like (and why 12-year-old boys are the primary target), and why over-sheltering your kids might be making them a softer target. Paul lays out exactly what parents can do today to protect their children without becoming helicopter parents.

Then the episode takes a turn. Paul shares how meditation and divine intuition became his primary operating tool in the field — from taking down the largest child trafficking ring in the Caribbean to a cold-read operation in Ecuador that shouldn't have worked but did. We go deep on the pineal gland, the science of awareness, and why learning to listen with your heart might be the most important skill you never develop. Whether you're a parent, a leader, or someone who feels like their awareness has been shrinking — this episode is the unlock.

Powerful Quotes

"95% of the situations where somebody has to use hard skills to fight their way out could have been avoided if they were just paying attention."

"We're not going to fix trafficking by pulling children out of hell forever. We fix it by pulling the hell out of the adults."

"Faith isn't going to church and asking God to fix things you don't believe will be fixed. Faith is the unwavering conviction that what you want to have happen will happen."

I help founders & executives generating more than $1M in revenue find their Easy Mode. Start here: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribe

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/ryanmhanley

This show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators. 👉 Learn more at https://unpluggedstudios.fm.

Join 15,000+ leaders and become undeniable: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribeWatch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/nMAx8-9DswYAlberto Crane was the first American to earn a BJJ black belt from Gracie Barra. He fought in the UFC. Won world championships. Built Legacy Jiu-Jitsu into a 25-year institution.Then came the MS diagnosis.Most people would have stopped. Alberto went on a world tour.In this episode, we talk about what getting punched in the face teaches you about leadership, why 3 years of losing made Alberto unstoppable, the power of the mantra "I believe in my technique," and why your rough edges are features, not bugs.His new book "All In: Lessons On and Off the Mat" is out now.📖 Get the book: https://amzn.to/3PBPMID🥋 Legacy BJJ: https://legacybjj.com🏋️ TACFIT: https://tacfit.com📸 Alberto's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/albertocrane/🌐 Alberto's website: https://www.albertocrane.com/✅ Subscribe to Finding Peak: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribe🎙️ More episodes: https://ryanhanley.com/podcastThis show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators. 👉 Learn more at https://unpluggedstudios.fm.

Subscribe to Finding Peak for frameworks that actually work: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribeWatch the show on YouTube: https://youtu.be/9gToRCbu1TUYour retention problem isn't product. It's not customer success. It's sales.Mark Roberge was the 4th employee at HubSpot and took them from $0 to IPO as their founding CRO. Now he's a Harvard Business School professor, co-founder of Stage 2 Capital, and author of The Science of Scaling.In this conversation, Mark and I break down why most founders get the scaling question wrong, how to build compensation plans that kill coasting, the one interview technique that reveals a salesperson's ceiling, and the brutal math behind knowing when you're actually ready to scale.I also share the story of selling my own company to the wrong buyer and the single question I wish I'd asked before signing.📕 Get Mark's book — The Science of Scaling: https://amzn.to/4uS6Z0s🔗 Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markroberge/🔗 Stage 2 Capital: https://www.stage2.capitalSubscribe to Finding Peak for frameworks that actually work: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribe---This show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators. 👉 Learn more at https://unpluggedstudios.fm.

Contrarian takes on power, leverage, and influence in the age of AI: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribe--You've been told your whole life that passion and drive are the keys to success.What if they're actually the biggest risks to your mental health?In this episode of Finding Peak, I sit down with Dr. Guy Winch — internationally renowned psychologist, 3x TED Talk speaker (35M+ views), and bestselling author of Mind Over Grind: How to Break Free When Work Hijacks Your Life.We go deep on the uncomfortable truth about overworking, the hidden dangers of being "driven," and why your passion might be slowly amputating parts of your personality — one by one.If you've ever felt like work is hijacking your life, or if you've experienced that crushing emptiness after achieving a massive goal (like selling a company), this conversation is your wake-up call.We cover:→ Why passion and drive are actually psychological risk factors→ The "scurvy" of the modern entrepreneur (and how to avoid it)→ Why you feel depressed after a big win — and how to prepare for it→ How to stop work from invading your personal time→ The difference between automatic coping and intentional problem-solving→ Why action creates passion — not the other way around→ How Gen Z's short-term thinking is creating a mental health crisisStop grinding yourself into the ground. It's time to build a life that actually sustains you.This is the way.—Connect with Guy Winch📘 Get Dr. Guy Winch's book, Mind Over Grind: https://amzn.to/4dfXCBJ🌐 Learn more about Dr. Winch: https://www.guywinch.com/--Contrarian takes on power, leverage, and influence in the age of AI: https://ryanhanley.com/subscribeThis show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators. 👉 Learn more at https://unpluggedstudios.fm.