Overview: Welcome to Ready Set Exec , the leadership podcast where executive search meets real leadership stories. Ready Set Exec explores how today’s top executives think, lead, hire, and scale through real conversations with accomplished leaders across sales, marketing, HR, operations, finance, technology, and digital transformation. Each episode features candid discussions with executives, founders, and industry experts who share practical insights on leadership, organizational growth, executive hiring, innovation, and navigating today’s rapidly evolving business landscape. From scaling companies and driving transformation to advancing executive careers and building high-performing teams, Ready Set Exec delivers real-world strategies, lessons learned, and forward-thinking perspectives for leaders shaping the future of business. What to Expect Each Episode: Conversations with Executives: Hear candid stories from accomplished leaders across Ready Set Exec’s network as they share lessons learned, pivotal career moves, and their outlook on the future of leadership. Industry Insights: Explore the trends shaping leadership in the fields Ready Set Exec knows best—how Sales leaders drive growth, how Marketing executives build brand momentum, how HR shapes culture, and how Operations keeps organizations moving. Talent Strategy Deep Dives: John reveals what he's learned about hiring executives who don’t just fit the role but elevate the business, by using a relationship-driven approach. Actionable Takeaways: Whether you’re a CEO, HR leader, or an executive shaping your next move, you’ll walk away with practical insights on attracting, retaining, and thriving as top talent. Connect with Ready Set Exec: John Pezoulas LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnpezoulas/ Patrick Shea LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/patrick-jm-shea/ Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ReadySetExec Are you a C-level Exec and want to be a guest on the podcast ? email sales@readysetexec.com Check out our firm at Readysetexec.com or call us at 737-249-9572
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Ready Set Exec: Leadership Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 42 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.
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Unknown Host hosts Ready Set Exec: Leadership Podcast, a business show with 42 episodes published.
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Episode #42
Kurt Uhlir: We cut $200k in Ads and Lost Zero Leads. Are You Wasting Your Budget? | Ready Set Exec
Aug 14, 202653 minS1
What if your $200,000 a month Google ad budget was doing almost nothing, and the leads would have shown up anyway? Kurt Uhlir turned off exactly that amount in B2B paid media and watched close rates stay flat. That's just one of the things he's learned across 60+ corporate transactions, 20+ patents, and a dozen industries. As CMO of Easy Home Search a Zillow competitor built on consumer data privacy, and a board member of CEO Netweavers, Kurt breaks down the real difference between growth mode and scale mode, what demand generation actually looks like in 2026, why 99% of marketers are not capable of doing it, and where you should actually be putting your marketing dollars right now. About Ready Set Exec: Founded by Managing Partners Patrick Shea and John Pezoulas, Ready Set Exec is a premier North American executive leadership recruitment firm specializing in Sales, Marketing, Human Resources, and Operations. We replace hiring chaos with a repeatable process, boasting an average time-to-hire of 39 days and a 100% placement success rate. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Kurt Ehrler and His Expertise 01:22 Scaling Challenges for Startups 03:37 The Shift from Lagging to Leading Indicators 07:20 Content Strategy for Modern Demand Generation 10:08 The Importance of Customer Insights 13:00 Collaboration Across Teams 15:08 Case Study: Easy Home Search's Growth Journey 20:35 Building Effective Marketing Teams 26:26 The Role of CMOs and CROs in Business Strategy 32:35 Preparing for Growth and Successful Exits 41:41 Shifting Marketing Strategies for 2026 50:04 The Importance of Peer Networks and Mentorship Connect with Ready Set Exec: John Pezoulas LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnpezoulas/ Patrick Shea LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-jm-shea/ Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ReadySetExec Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6clqPWbF2yFRlsFUOXY0CO?si=UuOAbZeiQMKpgSjV5Od5_g Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ready-set-exec-the-podcast/id1837951413 Connect with Kurt Uhlir : LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/kurtuhlir
Joshua Cutler: Stop Measuring Training by Attendance: The Real Formula for L&D Success | Ready Set Exec
Aug 7, 202642 minS1
Most companies measure L&D ROI with two things: course completion rates and "how did you feel about the course" surveys. Josh Cutler says both are nearly worthless With 20+ years in learning design, starting in the chaos of the New York City school system, Josh became known as the person companies call when all their traditional L&D approaches have failed. In this episode, he explains exactly why most corporate training is broken, why AI avatars are penny-wise and pound-foolish, why you should hire teachers instead of HR people for your L&D function, and how he accidentally became the world's leading HR Super Connector — making hundreds of strategic introductions every single day through a system built entirely on quality, quantity, and speed. About Ready Set Exec: Founded by Managing Partners Patrick Shea and John Pezoulas, Ready Set Exec is a premier North American executive leadership recruitment firm specializing in Sales, Marketing, Human Resources, and Operations. We replace hiring chaos with a repeatable process, boasting an average time-to-hire of 39 days and a 100% placement success rate. Chapters: 0:00 Intro: Who is Josh Cutler? 03:29 Continuous Learning vs. Episodic One-Off Training 07:48 Why Off-the-Shelf LMS Modules Are a Waste of Money 11:48 Learning Strategy First, Platform Selection Second 18:40 The Reality of AI in L&D: Where It Actually Helps 23:03 The Measurement Gap: Completion Rates vs. Behavioural Change 38:04 Executive Networking: Your Net Worth is Your Network 43:21 The True Cost of Toxic Workplaces on the Bottom Line Connect with Ready Set Exec: John Pezoulas LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnpezoulas/ Patrick Shea LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-jm-shea/ Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ReadySetExec Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6clqPWbF2yFRlsFUOXY0CO?si=UuOAbZeiQMKpgSjV5Od5_g Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ready-set-exec-the-podcast/id1837951413 Connect with Joshua Cutler : LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuaafcutler/
Raj Sinha: What Executive Compensation Actually Looks Like Behind Closed Doors | Ready Set Exec
Jul 31, 202648 minS1
In the 1970s, CEO pay was roughly 100 times the average worker's salary. Today it's over 1,000 times. And most companies still can't clearly explain to their own employees what their total rewards program even means. Raj Sinha has spent 20+ years advising CEOs, CHROs, and boards across life sciences, financial services, and technology on exactly how to fix this and what happens when organizations don't. In this episode, Raj breaks down the full landscape of executive compensation, global pay strategy, the new SEC administration's impact on ESG and DEI disclosures, why performance management is riddled with normative bias, and what it actually takes to build a pay structure that survives shareholder scrutiny and wins the war for talent. About Ready Set Exec: Founded by Managing Partners Patrick Shea and John Pezoulas, Ready Set Exec is a premier North American executive leadership recruitment firm specializing in Sales, Marketing, Human Resources, and Operations. We replace hiring chaos with a repeatable process, boasting an average time-to-hire of 39 days and a 100% placement success rate. Chapters: 0:00 Intro: Who is Raj Sinha 14:19 Compensation Strategy: What Percentile Should You Target? 19:00 CEO Pay Ratios and the New Era of Excess Pay Risk 28:00 2026 SEC Shifts: Changes to DEI, ESG, and Disclosures 31:23 Career Path: From Mid-Level to Global Rewards Executive 34:00 The Goal-Setting Framework: Threshold, Target, and Maximum 40:03 The Reality of AI in Total Rewards 43:11 Global Comp Strategy and Cross-Cultural Awareness Connect with Ready Set Exec: John Pezoulas LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnpezoulas/ Patrick Shea LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-jm-shea/ Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ReadySetExec Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6clqPWbF2yFRlsFUOXY0CO?si=UuOAbZeiQMKpgSjV5Od5_g Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ready-set-exec-the-podcast/id1837951413 Connect with Raj Sinha : LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/rajcsinha
Philip Kushmaro: How to Compete When Your Product Can Be Copied in 24 Hours | Ready Set Exec
Jul 24, 202655 minS1
Marketing leaders are being laid off at record rates in 2026. Philip Kushmaro has watched it happen for 15 years across hundreds of companies - and he knows exactly why. The problem isn't the marketers. It's a fundamental misalignment between what marketing actually does and what CEOs think they're paying for. In this episode, Philip breaks down the real state of the marketing job market, why brand is now the only moat that can't be copied overnight, what to do when you lose your job, and why he and his wife are building Maguire, a lifestyle tech brand and AI-driven motherhood operating system, to solve one of the most underserved crises in the world. About Ready Set Exec: Founded by Managing Partners Patrick Shea and John Pezoulas, Ready Set Exec is a premier North American executive leadership recruitment firm specializing in Sales, Marketing, Human Resources, and Operations. We replace hiring chaos with a repeatable process, boasting an average time-to-hire of 39 days and a 100% placement success rate. Chapters: 0:00 Why marketing leaders are getting fired right now 07:56 Brand as the only moat left in a world where tools get copied overnight 29:31 Going from operator to founder: what Philip learned doing it the hard way 40:31 Advice for new marketing grads in 2026 41:39 Generalist vs. specialist: the right path 45:21 Why does AI still need a minimum of three people on a marketing team 48:36 The gig economy reckoning: losing benefits, security, and the social contract Connect with Ready Set Exec: John Pezoulas LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnpezoulas/ Patrick Shea LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-jm-shea/ Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ReadySetExec Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6clqPWbF2yFRlsFUOXY0CO?si=UuOAbZeiQMKpgSjV5Od5_g Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ready-set-exec-the-podcast/id1837951413 Connect with Philip Kushmaro: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipkushmaro
Mark L Vincent: Why Most of 1999’s Industry Giants Died And How Your Business Can Avoid Their Fate | Ready Set Exec
Jul 17, 202659 minS1
In 1999, the Fortune 25 was the most powerful list of companies on earth. By 2024, 21 of those 25 companies were gone shrunk, acquired, or irrelevant. Only four survived. Mark L. Vincent has spent 25 years studying what separates the leaders who build something that lasts from those who don't. As executive advisor, founding member of the Sage Group Collective, and author of the newly released book The Maestro Effect, he breaks down the four elements every founder must orchestrate to hand their business off with full value intact - and what happens to the ones who don't. In this episode, we go deep on succession planning, the three turns of a leader, why C-suite isolation is a growing crisis, what boards get dangerously wrong about their own role, and why short-termism is quietly destroying the institutions we're trying to build. About Ready Set Exec: Founded by Managing Partners Patrick Shea and John Pezoulas, Ready Set Exec is a premier North American executive leadership recruitment firm specializing in Sales, Marketing, Human Resources, and Operations. We replace hiring chaos with a repeatable process, boasting an average time-to-hire of 39 days and a 100% placement success rate. Chapters: 0:00 - Intro: Who is Mark L. Vincent? 01:48 It's Not About Retirement It's About Orchestration 07:55 The Four Key Elements of the Maestro Effect Framework 14:15 The Three Turns of a Leader 20:44 Continuity Planning vs. Succession Planning 25:00 The Relationship Equity Problem When Top Performers Leave 37:38 C-Suite Isolation: "Every Promotion Means Fewer Friends" 58:06 Advisory vs. Fiduciary Boards: The Distinction That Changes Everything Connect with Ready Set Exec: John Pezoulas LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnpezoulas/ Patrick Shea LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-jm-shea/ Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ReadySetExec Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6clqPWbF2yFRlsFUOXY0CO?si=UuOAbZeiQMKpgSjV5Od5_g Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ready-set-exec-the-podcast/id1837951413 Connect with Mark L. Vincent : LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklvincent #SuccessionPlanning #LeadershipLegacy #TheMaestroEffect #CEOAdvice #BoardGovernance #ExecutiveLeadership #BusinessPodcast #Podcast2026 #LeadershipDevelopment
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