The Thought Leader Revolution Podcast

"Being brave enough to suck at sales for the next month, two months, three months, six months, year, is what's gonna have your business go from tragic to magic in the most uncommon of hours." Stepping into something new isn't about instant mastery—it's about embracing the messy, awkward, and uncomfortable first stages of learning. Growth happens when you push past the safety of what you know, take on challenges that stretch your skills, and keep showing up despite early failures. Progress is built on consistency, courage, and the willingness to look bad before you get good. This is the power of "being brave enough to suck at something new," especially when it comes to sales. Whether you're a coach, consultant, or thought leader, avoiding the discomfort of new skills keeps you stuck on the same plateau. By committing to imperfect action, embracing the "suck," and building momentum, you can go from struggling to closing deals with confidence and mastery. Visit https://www.eCircleAcademy.com and book a success call with Nicky to take your practice to the next level.

"The prerequisite for bravery is loyalty" True loyalty isn't just a feeling—it's an unshakable commitment to stand beside those you care about, even when it puts you in harm's way. Loyalty precedes bravery; without it, courage is hollow. When loyalty is your compass, you act not for applause, but because your word and your bond demand it. Salman Sima embodies this truth. Having endured arrest, torture, and exile for defending friends and freedom in Iran, he's never stopped fighting for liberty—whether on the streets of Tehran, in front of the UN, or here in Canada. His story shows that loyalty isn't situational; it's a lifelong vow. Salman Sima is an Iranian-Canadian human rights activist and former political prisoner. A survivor of solitary confinement and brutal torture, he continues to lead campaigns against the Iranian regime, advocate for political unity, and speak globally on the price—and necessity—of freedom. Learn more & connect: @realsalmansima Visit https://www.eCircleAcademy.com and book a success call with Nicky to take your practice to the next level.

"In your business, you are inside the bottle. That's why you can't read the label." Getting out of "unflow" starts with one critical shift: stop trying to do it all alone. The path from stuck to success isn't paved with solo hustle—it's built with belief, encouragement, and community. You can't read the label from inside the bottle, which is why getting help from people who see your blind spots is the key to making smart moves in your business and your life. The people around you determine how fast and far you go. This Nugget drops wisdom from Mark von Musser and a reminder that the "people game" is the only game that matters. When you surround yourself with aligned encouragers—those who call out your blind spots, believe in your mission, and challenge your growth—you unlock momentum and move with power. Flow requires fuel, and that fuel is other people. Visit https://www.eCircleAcademy.com and book a success call with Nicky to take your practice to the next level.

"The thrill can last forever, it just needs a little help." Most couples aren't struggling because of lack of love—they're struggling because of unmet expectations, unspoken wounds, and the myth that good relationships should feel effortless. The truth is: thrill fades unless you create it. Passion, connection, and great sex don't disappear over time—they disappear when you stop doing the things that made them possible. Dr. Fraser breaks down why suffering in love isn't caused by what happens to us—but by how we resist it. Drawing on Buddhist psychology, real-world sex therapy, and her trademark no-BS style, she shares how to reignite thrill, deepen intimacy, and recover sensuality—even after decades of distance. She's bold, brilliant, and brutally honest. Sharp, frank, and fearless, that's Buddhist psychologist, sex therapist, author and speaker Dr. Cheryl Fraser. With a rare combination of academic credibility, humor, straight-talk, and life-changing advice, Dr. Cheryl is a sought-after media psychologist and relationship expert. She has helped thousands of couples jumpstart their love life and create passion that lasts a lifetime. She combines cutting edge love and sex therapy with Buddhist mind training to help couples cut through resistance and ignite the connection and sizzle they think they've lost. A highly successful and awarded Fulbright scholar, she has conducted research on sexual behavior and what causes love relationships to succeed or fail. With her groundwork, she created the Become Passion – Create Love that Lasts a Lifetime intensive online program for couples. Check out her popular podcastSex Love & Elephants, and her book Buddha's Bedroom–The Mindful Loving Path to Sexual Passion and Lifelong Intimacy. Cheryl is an international speaker on the topic of Love and Passion and has been a guest expert for Tony Robbins, Jack Canfield of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Dr. Laura Berman – Oprah's love and sex expert – and more. She's a dynamic guest expert for Podcasts, TV and radio who is direct and entertaining. She is also writes for Lion's Roar, Mindful and Best Health magazines where she explores love, sex, relationships, meditation, and the human experience. Cheryl's approach to life and to helping others is based in her practice of meditation and Buddhism, which she has studied for 25 years. She was given permission to teach by her root teacher Namgyal Rinpoche and she is the resident meditation teacher for Island Dharma. Her work is encapsulated in the teaching of Mindful Loving. When Cheryl is not in India, Tibet, or at a three-month silent meditation retreat, she lives on Vancouver Island with her man and their menagerie, practicing the passion she preaches. Expert action steps: 1. Reignite Thrill: Surprise your partner regularly—schedule wooing just like you schedule meetings. 2. Prioritize Sex: Treat sex like the gym. Don't wait until you feel like it—create the conditions that help you want it. 3. Master Communication: Learn how to fight fair, repair, and deeply understand your partner's perspective—especially when you disagree. Learn more & connect: Book: Buddha's Bedroom by Dr. Cheryl Fraser https://a.co/d/48dKK67 🔥 Reboot Your Relationship in Just 10 Days — Join Dr. Cheryl's FREE Starter Course Now! 👉 Claim My Spot Now Dr. Cheryl Fraser | Psychologist, Sex Therapist, and author of Buddha's Bedroom | Creator of Become Passion – Create Love that Lasts a Lifetime – An online program for Couples. Email: hello@drcherylfraser.com Website: www.drcherylfraser.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/drcherylfraser YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/drcherylfraser Book: Buddha's Bedroom Take the Passion Quiz and Rate your Relationship: https://drcherylfraser.com/quiz/ Visit https://www.eCircleAcademy.com and book a success call with Nicky to take your practice to the next level.

"I've never felt so much love, so much faith, so much belief for me as a human being." The fastest way to grow is to surround yourself with people who believe in your potential. A powerful peer group raises your standards, stretches your vision, and holds you accountable to your greatness. True transformation doesn't happen in isolation—it's forged in connection, challenge, and commitment. Speaking at the Transformational Leadership Council pushed every button. Fear, faith, and full expression collided in a room of the world's most elite transformational leaders. Sharing my wisdom wasn't the hard part—trusting I belonged in the room was. And when I did, I walked out with not just new insights but new allies. Jack Canfield's TLC is more than a council—it's a calibration point for what's possible. Being there reminded me why community is everything. If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far—and live a life that matters—you go with others. And that's the business model I'm building every day. Lean more & connect: https://transformationalleadershipcouncil.com/ Visit https://www.eCircleAcademy.com and book a success call with Nicky to take your practice to the next level.

"When you have a team that talks to only people who can buy, usually their close rate increases 80 to 100%. And then the back end, you're able to kind of feed that data back into your marketing… 28% on average reduction over the course of 90 to 120 days in your lead cost." Wasting time on calls with buyers who can't buy isn't just bad for business—it's demoralizing. But what if you could know exactly who's qualified before they ever hit your calendar? And what if that same process made things better for your buyers, too? SimpleCheck lets you pre-qualify leads using soft credit data, so your sales team only talks to people who can afford to say yes—while everyone else gets routed to free content or lower-commitment offers that match their needs. Buyers avoid the shame of overreaching or being pitched things they can't afford. Sellers get higher close rates and lower ad costs. Everyone wins. Hunter Hensley is the co-founder of SimpleCheck, a tech platform that brings transparency and empathy to the sales process. His work empowers businesses to serve better, sell smarter, and build real trust from the first click to the final close. Expert action steps: 1. Know Yourself – Clarify your identity, strengths, and gifts so you can operate from a place of authenticity and service. 2. Prioritize Your Life Outside Business – Protect time for family and personal growth; business will always demand more. 3. Understand Legal Compliance – Know your industry's laws and avoid costly legal mistakes. This includes things like adverse action notices and FCRA/GDPR compliance. Learn more & connect: https://getsimplecheck.com Also in this episode: Visit https://www.eCircleAcademy.com and book a success call with Nicky to take your practice to the next level.

"You will grow more by helping the people in your tribe." Confidence doesn't begin with how others see you—it begins with how you decide to see yourself. Insecurity, fear, and self-doubt may be part of the human experience, but they don't have to define your leadership. The path to powerful presence starts with internal clarity: vision, values, and daily actions that reflect who you really are. Jaclyn Strominger built her leadership style from a painful, personal origin—years of feeling "painfully insecure" and overlooked. But instead of folding, she turned inward, found her voice, and teaches others to lead with heart and mission. Her energy, she says, is now her superpower. "The vibe attracts your tribe." Jaclyn Strominger is a leadership coach, speaker, and co-author of Charting True North, a workbook to help leaders clarify vision and purpose. She works with companies between 5 and 50 employees, guiding them to lead with purpose, emotional intelligence, and contagious confidence. Expert action steps: Write out your vision statement. Make sure you have your top six key values that you want to live by and have your company and your team live by. Look at your calendar every day and put on your calendar all the things that matter. That includes your family, working out, make sure that there's time in there for you. Learn more & connect: https://jaclynstrominger.com/ Book: Charting True North: The CEO's Guide to Authentistic Leadership https://a.co/d/asWLFbW Visit https://www.eCircleAcademy.com and book a success call with Nicky to take your practice to the next level.

"I thought I needed them more than they needed me and what turned out that I learned very very quickly is the opposite is true. They actually need us, the real estate investor, to borrow that money more than we need them." Private lending isn't a mystery—it's a strategy. When traditional banks slam their doors shut, savvy entrepreneurs don't whine… they pivot. By learning how to attract and manage private capital, you shift from being at the mercy of gatekeepers to becoming your own underwriter. This episode breaks down exactly how everyday investors can raise private money ethically, safely, and with integrity—without begging or pitching a single deal. Jay Conner shares how he raised over $2 million in just 90 days from people who had never even heard of private money before. "You don't need a credit score. You don't need a bank's approval. You need a teacher's mindset and a rock-solid program." Conner breaks down his referral method, his "good news" script, and why trust, not desperation, fuels every successful transaction. Jay Conner is known as The Private Money Authority. He's a national speaker, author of Where to Get the Money Now, and host of the Raising Private Money podcast. After being cut off by banks in 2009, he discovered private lending and has since done over 500 deals using over $8.5 million in private capital. Expert action steps: Join a mastermind group – Surround yourself with like-minded people. Read great books – Your destiny is shaped by the people you meet and the books you read. Take care of your health – Sleep, hydration, and sunlight matter. He recommends starting the day with 16 oz of water with Himalayan salt and getting outside within 5 minutes to regulate circadian rhythm. Lean more & connect: Where to Get the Money Now: How and Where to Get Money for your Real Estate Deals Without Relying on Traditional or Hard Money Lenders by Jay Conner https://www.jayconner.com/book 7 Reasons Why Private Money Will Skyrocket Your Real Estate Business and Help You Build Incredible Wealth (Free ebook) https://www.jayconner.com/moneyguide Podcast: Raising Private Money Podcast with Jay Conner Available on all major podcast platforms https://www.jayconner.com/podcast Visit https://www.eCircleAcademy.com and book a success call with Nicky to take your practice to the next level.

"You gotta connect with somebody before you can convert somebody." Building a thriving business isn't about chasing the next shiny tactic—it's about engineering a system that connects, converts, and compounds. That starts with a clear vision: what you want, what you don't want, who you are, and what you stand for. Without clarity, you're building by accident. With it, you're building by design. Add in lead machines, education-based conversion events, and the right branding, and you've got a scalable, sustainable engine that works even when you're not. Dan Kuschell brings decades of entrepreneurial insight into play, mapping out the five pillars of business growth: vision and growth plan, connection campaigns, lead machines, conversion events, and going deep. He shares the "10 Cent Trust Trigger" and explains how to build visibility, trust, and leads on a shoestring budget—without burning out or burning cash. It's strategy over hustle, architecture over guesswork. Dan is a business growth specialist, founder of Breakthrough3x, and the author of Direct Response Branding. He's helped companies generate over $2 billion in client growth and specializes in building marketing systems that scale without sacrificing health, family, or sanity. Expert action steps: 1. Take Care of Your Health Without your health, nothing else matters. 2. Get Clear on What You Want Know the business you want—and don't want—based on who you are. 3. Build Smart, Not Hard Use proven systems and tools to grow your business the right way. Lean more & connect: Go to Breakthrough3x.com/Nikki to get Dan't audiobook, Direct Response Branding. Visit https://www.eCircleAcademy.com and book a success call with Nicky to take your practice to the next level.

"Our strength is our freedom, and out of that freedom comes diversity, not the other way around." Freedom means being able to live by your values without being punished for them. It takes courage to speak up, strength to stand your ground, and the willingness to protect other people's rights—even when you don't agree with them. Real leadership doesn't shut people down. It listens, takes responsibility, and uses power carefully. A free country doesn't force everyone to think the same. It respects honest questions, pushes back against political spin, and trusts people to make their own choices. Candice Bergen shares stories from her time in politics—what it was like during the trucker protests, how COVID-19 policy sowed division, and why the Emergencies Act was a turning point. She also opens up about the strategic decisions behind the 2025 election, the rise of podcasting in political outreach, and her belief in standing firm, even when unpopular. Candice Bergen is the former leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition in Canada and the former interim leader of the Conservative Party. Today, she advises companies in the defense, natural resources, and tech sectors, with a focus on freedom, energy, and governance. Expert action steps: 1. Show up. 2. Do the work nobody else wants to do. 3. Under promise and over deliver. Lean more & connect: Candice's Website: https://www.candicebergen.ca Also in this episode: Jordan Peterson's Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference: https://www.arcforum.com Visit https://www.eCircleAcademy.com and book a success call with Nicky to take your practice to the next level.