• What it really takes to unleash the power of your second in command with guest expert Cameron Herold
    May 4 2026
    Bill Ringle and Cameron Herold discuss the role of the COO, the importance of matching the stage of the company and the relationship chemistry with the CEO, and when it is time for a COO to move on to another role or company for ambitious small business leaders.
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    43 mins
  • 418: Your Online Course Is Failing Before You Hit Record — Here’s Why —
    Apr 24 2026
    Rebecca Cuevas, author of Course Design Formula: How to Teach Anything to Anyone Online Rebecca Cuevas and Bill Ringle discuss Course Design Formula: How to Teach Anything to Anyone Online for small business leaders. >>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations. Interview Insights Top 3 Takeaways Effective online courses are designed, not recorded. The most common mistake is jumping straight to video without understanding that design — knowing the learner transformation you’re aiming for — must come long before choosing any media. Stop serving the whole cow. Trying to compress a lifetime of expertise into one course overwhelms learners and buries the transformation. Focus on one specific outcome your learner will achieve. Launch with a minimum viable learning design: use the Course Design Formula to draft a pilot quickly, then “add people and stir.” Real learner feedback from a live cohort will improve your course faster than any amount of pre-launch polishing. Read the Show Notes from this Episode Rebecca’s two grandfathers — one a cigar-smoking industrialist who turned around failing companies, the other a journalist who founded a television show — and what they shared: the drive to forge their own path and a deep love of thorough preparation. [01:33]From education coordinator for two Southern California public utilities to online course designer: how 15 years of building in-person programs from scratch set the stage for Rebecca’s pivot to online learning and founding Learn and Get Smarter in 2015. [04:40]The unlikely breakthrough — designing a Turkish grammar course with zero subject-matter knowledge forced Rebecca to rely entirely on learning design research, and that is when the Course Design Formula was born. [09:00]Three mistakes people still make with online courses: (1) serving the whole cow — cramming everything they know into one course; (2) no focus on the learner’s transformation; (3) jumping straight to video without a design process. [10:32]“It doesn’t have to be high production value — it has to be high design value.” Just as you can’t remake Star Wars with a single video camera, you can’t design transformational learning by just hitting record. [12:35]Client success story: helping “Dora,” a social-sciences innovator, turn a complex personal methodology into a teachable program now recognized as a signature methodology nationwide. [13:38]Lightning round — teenage anthem: “I Can See Clearly Now” by Johnny Nash (1972); best $100 purchase: Bondi Shams, a solar water filtration device that provides 125 people with clean water for 25 years. [16:00]The ADDIE model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation) and why the minimum viable learning design approach — build a quick pilot, add real learners, stir, and iterate — gets better results faster than perfecting in isolation. [17:51]How Rebecca measures true effectiveness: she listens for her students’ students to come back with five-star stories and life-changing letters — the ripple effect that proves the design worked. [19:12] Expert Bio Rebecca Cuevas, Founder and CEO of Learn and Get Smarter, Inc., holds a BA with honors from Harvard and has two Masters Degrees in Education. She has over 30 years’ experience working with learners of all ages from toddlers to senior citizens. She has designed, developed, and delivered original learning programs in settings ranging from classrooms to workshops to self-paced online instruction and Masterminds.In her award-winning book, Course Design Formula: How to Teach Anything to Anyone Online, Rebecca shares her proprietary research-based method of online learning design. She has used the formula to help hundreds of creative experts and entrepreneurs develop anything from a single online course to a whole academy or online learning business.Her mission is to help outside-the-box thinkers who are the quiet founders of movements fulfil their mission by teaching impactfully, online. Contact Info and Social Media for Rebecca Cuevas Primary website Travels from: Riverside, CA Connect on: LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram @mother_rebecca Resources Mentioned During the Interview Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further. Learn and Get Smarter — Rebecca’s online learning business and community for course creators who want to teach impactfully onlineRobert F. Mager — educational theorist whose ...
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    19 mins
  • Fear drives out the best ideas and people
    Mar 16 2026
    Bill Ringle and Marcus Warner discuss what mature leaders do to endure and thrive when times are difficult for leaders of small and mid-sized businesses.
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    36 mins
  • You are stuck without being open to workplace experiments with guest expert Gustavo Razzetti
    Mar 2 2026
    Bill Ringle and Gustavo Razzetti discuss how leaders and those who say nothing to hurtful behavior are jointly responsible for toxic work cultures and what to do instead.
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    31 mins
  • Include and support women’s voices to improve the world of work
    Feb 16 2026
    Beate Chelette, author of Happy Woman Happy World Bill Ringle and Beatte Chelette discuss insider perspectives on how to create a work culture that is genuinely collaborative and inclusive for female and male small business leaders. >>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations. Interview Insights Top 3 Takeaways Position yourself to succeed with your peers instead of wanting only you, and you alone, to succeed. Know your price and the number needs to be the number where you don’t have to work anymore; that way, you’d know when it’s time to sell. When somebody tries to throw you off your game through their words or actions, you have the option not to let that land. Read the Show Notes from this Episode Beate proudly recalls her father who taught her that every person in the company, from the janitor to the top executives is vital to making a culture work. This is a lesson she carried throughout her life. [01:27]With $135,000 debt, a teenager she raised alone, and a lawsuit with a former employee, Beate’s resiliency was the fuel that kept her running. [03:32]How do we know when it’s time to sell? Beate highlights the importance of knowing your price and advises us to make sure it’s a figure enough that we don’t have to work anymore. [05:01]Knowing her numbers, Beate found a perfect buyer in Bill Gates. [07:16]A common problem in the US and many parts of the world is the gender pay gap. Beate gives her insights as for why many women are paid less and how they could address this. [10:39]Mary was a client of Beate’s who, despite being a top 1% in the fabric world, was not taken seriously as a business leader. After working with Beate, Mary became more confident in positioning herself as the leader that she is. [12:24]Why insecurity is ugly and a cavemen mentality that women need to shed. [16:58]“You’re too emotional” is only a checkmate move if we allow it. Beate advises women getting these comments to laugh it off and carry on with business as usual. [20:24]Beate recalls a former colleague and teammate Sandy who despite having a healthy and friendly relationship with her when Beate first joined the company, became embittered and resentful of her promotion. [23:12]My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [30:00] Expert Bio Beate Chelette is the Growth Architect and Founder of The Women’s Code and provides visionaries and leaders with strategies that grow your authority so they can scale their impact. A first-generation immigrant who found herself $135,000 in debt as a single parent, Beate bootstrapped her passion for photography into a highly successful global business and eventually sold it to Bill Gates in a multimillion-dollar deal. She is amongst the “Top 100 Global Thought Leaders” by PeopleHum and “One of 50 Must-Follow Women Entrepreneurs” by HuffPost.Recent clients include Amazon, Reckitt (the maker of Lysol), Chevron, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, the Women’s Legislative Caucus of California, Cal State University Dominguez Hills, Shelter Inc., Mental Health First Aid and thousands of small businesses. Beate is the author of the #1 International Award-Winning Amazon Bestseller “Happy Woman Happy World – How to Go from Overwhelmed to Awesome”–a book that corporate trainer and best-selling author Brian Tracy calls “a handbook for every woman who wants health, success and a fulfilling career.” Contact Info and Social Media for Beate Chelette Primary website Travels from: Culver City, CA Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook Resources Mentioned During the Interview Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further. Bill Gates Authored by Beate Chelette View on Amazon
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    39 mins
  • Use the power of narrative to take your business to the next level
    Feb 2 2026
    Gregory Diehl, author of Brand Identity Breakthrough: How to Craft Your Company’s Unique Story to Make Your Products Irresistible Bill Ringle and Gregory Diehl discuss the importance and use of story narrative to give your business the attention it deserves for small business leaders. >>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations. Interview Insights Top 3 Takeaways Invest in your clients as much as you can but do not be afraid to step back if they are unwilling to invest in their self-improvement as well.Creating your identity is important because customers buy into the story as much as they buy into what we’re selling.There are three ways to get money. Beg, steal, and earn. But only through earning do we give someone of great value worthy of their money. Read the Show Notes from this Episode Gregory passionately shares how Goerge Lucas and his vision that ultimately changed the film industry greatly inspired him growing up. [01:02]How Goerge Lucas relates to his book Brand Identity Breakthrough. [04:32]As teenagers, Gregory and his friends first came to truly appreciate the importance of the story in a brand when they were busking in California. [06:23]Olivier Wagner is a client of Gregor’s whose job is to help American ex-pats with their taxes whom he helped create his personality brand. [14:34] How Olivier’s business changed for the best after working with Gregory: He became more active in reaching out to people who are asking questions in platforms like Quora and Facebook. [18:28]Beg, steal, or earn- Gregory elaborates on the three ways he thinks entrepreneurs earn money. [21:22]Exploring the concept of Street Cat Marketing. [24:28]Why emotional bond is a perfect hook for selling. [27:43]My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [29:00] Expert Bio Gregory V. Diehl is an educator and personal development mentor whose ideals include self-inquiry, challenge, and analysis. He writes and teaches to assist others in undoing faulty narratives about their identities and how life works so that they may begin to make more meaningful choices and resolve their deepest burdens. Diehl spent many years studying cultures around the world and now lives a quiet life in a rural village in Armenia with his cats, books, and music. Gregory’s latest business book is Everyone Is an Entrepreneur: Selling Economic Self-Determination in a Post-Soviet World. In it, he examines why entrepreneurship has been so slow to spread in post-Soviet cultures like Armenia, how it hinders individuals’ ability to improve their own lives, and how to fix it. Contact Info and Social Media for Gregory Diehl Primary website Travels from: CARLSBAD, California Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Resources Mentioned During the Interview Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources we discussed so that you can explore further. Quora Facebook Olivier Wagner – If you are an American living abroad and need help with your taxes, click this link. Authored by Gregory Diehl
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    36 mins
  • Solving customer pain makes you relevant immediately with guest expert Howard Tiersky
    Jan 19 2026
    Bill Ringle and Howard Tiersky discuss how solving customer pain makes you relevant immediately.
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    29 mins
  • Hybrid selling demands a different toolkit with guest expert Andy Springer
    Jan 5 2026
    Bill Ringle and Andy Springer discuss how hybrid selling requires a different toolkit for success.
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    40 mins