What do cleaning toilets, surviving corporate layoffs, and building a tech-enabled franchise empire have in common? For Adam Povlitz, they’re all chapters of the same story.

In this episode of The Inventive Journey, Adam Povlitz, CEO of Anago Cleaning Systems, shares how he transformed a traditionally “thankless” industry into a scalable, tech-powered business by focusing on the one thing most competitors ignore: what happens when something goes wrong.

Adam’s path wasn’t a straight line to the top. After studying finance and beginning his career at IBM, he found himself in the middle of the 2008 financial crisis—tasked with analyzing layoffs and determining employee exit packages. That experience reshaped how he viewed business, leadership, and long-term stability.

Instead of continuing down the corporate path, Adam made a pivotal decision to join his family’s commercial cleaning business. But rather than stepping into leadership, he started from the ground up—working in telemarketing, cleaning daycares, supporting franchisees, and learning every corner of the operation firsthand.

That hands-on experience became the foundation for his leadership style: servant leadership. By focusing on helping franchisees grow their businesses “better, faster, smarter, and cheaper,” Adam built credibility, trust, and long-term alignment across the organization.

As he rose to President and eventually CEO, Adam identified a critical gap in the industry. The problem wasn’t the cleaning itself—it was the customer experience surrounding it. In a business where customers only notice you when something goes wrong, the response to those moments becomes everything.

That insight led to the creation of CleanCom, a proprietary platform designed to simplify and streamline customer communication. With features like real-time issue reporting, photo uploads, built-in translation, and guaranteed response times, CleanCom turns complaints into opportunities to build loyalty.

But the innovation doesn’t stop at communication. On the backend, the system tracks recurring issues, identifies patterns, and enables proactive retraining—transforming reactive service into preventive operations.

In this conversation, Adam also opens up about one of his biggest business mistakes: investing heavily in software before having a clear adoption strategy. He shares how that lesson shaped his evolving perspective on whether to build, buy, or lease technology—and why that answer continues to change with the rise of AI.

He also offers a powerful piece of advice for entrepreneurs and leaders: hire people who are smarter than you and get out of their way. As simple as it sounds, Adam explains why this mindset is critical for scaling a business and avoiding the trap of becoming your own bottleneck.

From expanding into national accounts to competing for large-scale enterprise contracts, Adam’s story highlights how innovation, leadership, and operational discipline can unlock growth—even in industries most people overlook.

If you’ve ever thought your industry was too “boring” to innovate in, this episode will challenge that assumption.

Because sometimes, the biggest opportunities aren’t in reinventing what you do—they’re in rethinking how you respond.

To chat about this one-on-one, grab a free consult at strategymeeting.com

If you’re an inventor or entrepreneur riding the high of securing a U.S. patent, this episode is your reality check—in the best possible way. Because while a U.S. patent is a powerful asset, it’s also geographically limited. And in today’s global economy, that limitation can become a major vulnerability if not addressed early.

We dive into one of the most misunderstood aspects of intellectual property: international patent protection. Many inventors assume their rights extend automatically beyond U.S. borders. Unfortunately, that’s not how the system works. Patent rights are territorial, meaning your protection only exists in the countries where you’ve actively filed and secured it.

So what are your options? We break down the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), a system designed to simplify the process of seeking protection in multiple countries. The PCT doesn’t grant you a “global patent,” but it does give you valuable time—typically up to 30 months—to evaluate where your invention should be protected.

We also explore direct national filings, which involve submitting patent applications individually in each country of interest. While this approach can be more immediate, it often comes with higher costs and complexity due to varying legal requirements.

Beyond the mechanics, we talk strategy. How do you decide which countries matter? Should you prioritize manufacturing hubs? Consumer markets? Competitor hotspots? The answer depends on your business model—and getting it wrong can be costly.

We also tackle common pitfalls, like missing critical filing deadlines or over-investing in markets with little return. And we discuss enforcement challenges, because securing a patent is one thing—defending it in a foreign legal system is another.

This episode is packed with insights to help you think beyond borders and approach your intellectual property like a global business asset.

Whether you’re just starting out or preparing to scale internationally, understanding how to protect your invention worldwide is essential.

To chat about this one-on-one, grab a free consult at strategymeeting.com

What does it really take to go from high performer… to elite?

In this episode of The Inventive Journey, Curtis McCullom shares a powerful and deeply personal story that challenges everything you think you know about success, mindset, and transformation. From his early days as a high school track athlete in Mississippi to becoming the #1 performer in his field—and ultimately walking away from a lucrative career—Curtis reveals the hidden forces that shape our outcomes.

His journey didn’t follow a straight line. It started with ambition and discipline, but quickly collided with adversity when a serious injury threatened to end his athletic career. Instead of giving up, Curtis leaned into something most people ignore: the power of the mind. Through visualization and mental conditioning, he not only recovered—he achieved his goal of becoming the best in the state.

That experience became the blueprint for everything that followed.

As Curtis transitioned into the business world, he carried that same mindset into sales, rising to the top of his company in record time. But despite financial success and professional recognition, something was missing. Like many high achievers, he reached a point where external success no longer matched internal fulfillment.

So he made a bold move—he walked away.

What came next wasn’t just a career shift—it was a complete transformation. Curtis entered the world of coaching, only to discover that traditional methods didn’t deliver real results. Surface-level strategies and goal-setting frameworks weren’t enough to create lasting change.

That’s when he went deeper.

By combining hypnotherapy, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), and mental/emotional release techniques, Curtis developed a unique approach focused on one core idea: most of our behavior is driven by the subconscious mind.

In fact, only about 5% of what we do is conscious. The other 95%? It’s automatic—shaped by past experiences, beliefs, and emotional patterns we often aren’t even aware of.

This is where most people get stuck.

They work harder. They push more. They try to out-discipline the problem. But if the root cause is subconscious, effort alone won’t fix it.

Curtis’s work focuses on identifying and eliminating these “invisible blocks”—the hidden barriers that prevent high performers from reaching their next level. His clients aren’t beginners—they’re successful CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs who feel stuck despite doing everything right.

Whether it’s a plateau in revenue, struggles in relationships, or a lack of fulfillment, the common thread is the same: something beneath the surface is holding them back.

And here’s the surprising part—when you address that level directly, change doesn’t take years.

It can happen in weeks.

In this episode, Curtis breaks down how subconscious programming works, why traditional coaching often falls short, and what it really takes to create rapid, lasting transformation. He also shares lessons from his own journey, including the importance of resilience, the danger of burning bridges, and why protecting your mindset is one of the most critical skills in business and life.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re capable of more—but can’t quite break through—this conversation will give you a completely new perspective on what’s possible.

To chat about this one-on-one, grab a free consult at strategymeeting.com