583: The CEO Rollercoaster with Brian Town

Do you ever feel like an imposter as the CEO of your business? You’re not alone!

In this episode of Influence By Design, Samantha reconnects with Brian Town, a long-time entrepreneur and CEO who has navigated the wins and failures of business ownership with remarkable insights and resilience. 

He shares his journey, from the creative sparks that built his team culture to the challenging moments that almost led him to shutting down his successful seven-figure business. 

Brian’s candid insights and practical advice are a guiding light for entrepreneurs navigating the highs and lows of business ownership. 

Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur or a seasoned CEO, this episode offers invaluable lessons on leadership and perseverance. 

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL DISCOVER:

• Sam and Brian reconnect and reflect on their shared podcast history (00:34)
• A  memorable moment that highlighted the culture at Brian’s company (01:05)
• The importance of hiring the right people and building a winning team (03:05)
• How crafting a company manifesto can shape your business and attract the right talent (04:06)
• The isolating feelings of leadership and how to cultivate a strong support network (09:04)
• The challenges of imposter syndrome and how to move beyond it to drive success (18:15)
• The energising effect of connecting with like-minded individuals (22:48)
• How perseverance, resilience, problem-solving, and the right mindset can impact your business (28:55)
• Balancing business pressures with personal life (31:04)
• Brian discusses the unexpected depth and expansion of his book, covering essential business tactics (36:10)

QUOTES

“As business owners, we can’t build our companies on our own. We do need to have a team or a pool of talent, people that are going to help us to take our businesses to where they need to go.” – Samantha Riley

“As a CEO, like it or not, your team is looking to you to always have it all figured out, and to be that guiding light. And when you’re down, your team feels that.” – Brian Town

“Getting those people that are better than you at certain things is going to be a really, really good strategy for you. Because then you can start to get into what you really should be doing as the CEO.” – Brian Town

“I don’t think there’s ever going to be a time where things just work out all the time. It’s gonna get easier. But the only reason it got easier is because it was harder before.” – Brian Town

“Gratitude for the people around us—whether a spouse, a business bestie, or anyone in our sacred circle—keeps us going. They provide a safe environment where we can be open and honest, serving as our sounding board to work through the hard stuff.” – Samantha Riley

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

The Daily Pressfield by Steven Pressfield

​​SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW THE INFLUENCE BY DESIGN PODCAST 

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the Influence By Design podcast. If the information in any of our conversations and interviews has helped you in your business journey, please head over to Apple Podcasts, click the 3 dots in the top right corner of your smartphone screen, follow the show, and leave us an honest review. Your reviews and feedback will not only help us continue to deliver valuable content but will also help us reach even more amazing entrepreneurs just like you!

BOOK A BUSINESS ACCELERATOR CALL

If you want to be known as the leader in your industry, book a quick 15-minute call and we’ll work together to identify:

Your current situation and immediate opportunities for growth

Uncover the #1 thing holding you back from not being booked as an industry leader

Develop a 3-step implementation plan to increase your visibility

Click Here to book your no-charge Business Accelerator Call.

ABOUT BRIAN TOWN

Brian Town is the author of the new book The Lonely CEO; he’s a speaker, educator, fractional CEO, and the founder of Michigan Creative, an award-winning branding and marketing agency specializing in web development, video, branding, and social media marketing, designed to help businesses systemize their lead generation and scale their profits.

WHERE TO FIND BRIAN TOWN

• Website: https://michigancreative.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michigancreative
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/briantown2
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/michcreative
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/michigan-creative/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briantown1/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michigancreative
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/michcreative/

CONNECT WITH SAMANTHA RILEY

• Facebook: Samantha Riley
• Instagram: @thesamriley
• LinkedIn: Samantha Riley
• Twitter: @thesamriley

TRANSCRIPTION

Samantha Riley  0:02  

Welcome to today’s episode of Influence By Design. I’m your host, Samantha Riley. And today we’re gonna have a great conversation with someone that I very first met when I launched my book, my first book nine years ago. And we had a great conversation, and I’m going to talk a little bit about how I’ve been following him along the way ever since. So today we’re welcoming Brian Town to the show. And we’re going to talk about all sorts of things, just so much about being the CEO of your business. So Brian, welcome to the show.

Brian Town  0:34  

Sam, thank you so much. I was really, when I saw this come through, I’m like, Oh, my gosh, I’m really excited because I think I had you on my podcast that I need to get going again. And now I’m on your podcast. So here we are. And we’re still doing stuff. 

Samantha Riley  0:46  

Yes. That I was gonna say, the circle of life. It’s the circle of podcast, the circle of business, the circle of entrepreneurship. When I was on your podcast, and it was nine years ago, I cannot believe it was that long ago, I just launched my first book. And I followed you for quite a while. And one of the things that I absolutely loved and I stumbled across it was a video that you posted. And it was your team members pulling questions out of a hat. And they were answering those questions. And it is a video that stuck with me so strongly that I’ve been wanting to do it with my team, because I’ve watched that video. I mean, I haven’t seen it for years, but at the time, I watched it so many times. Because I just loved the way that your team was interacting with each other, with the questions. And I feel that it strongly sends a message about the values and the culture in your company. And that really stood out to me. What was the idea behind that video?

Brian Town  1:58  

Yeah, man, I haven’t thought about that video in a while now. Now. Now, I want to do it with my staff today, because it was just so fun. And we, all we were trying to do is, you know, we’re a creative agency, and we were just trying to, you know, post some things on social media that would get some attention and really introduce our staff in a way that we felt was authentic. And it was hilarious. I mean, the people that are on there, too, like it’s, it’s 100% their personality. And so we really thought all right, we want to find a way, you know, rather than just a headshot and talking about what they like, we want to find a way that people could see like John, for example, our web designer, you know, when they’re talking to him through email, or on the ticketing system, we want them to know his personality, because he’s hilarious. And so you know, that’s just one of the things that we did. And we did quite a bit. You know, we even did some, like office-like videos that were funny. And I think that’s when we had a smaller staff, and we didn’t have as many clients. So we had a little more extra time to do those kind of things. Yeah, that’s great. I forgot all about that. That’s so cool. I’m glad that you had that reaction.

Samantha Riley  3:05  

Well, one of the things I mean, you’ve got a seven-figure business now, I believe you’ve got a team of around 20, have I got the number, right, yeah. And one of the things that you talk about all that we talk about, I guess, as business owners is we can’t build our companies on our own, we do need to have a team or a pool of talent, people that are going to help us to take our businesses to where they need to go. And one of the things you talk about is having a hiring funnel. And I found this really interesting, because we can only take our business with like, we’ve got this amazing vision, right. But we can only take our business as far as our team can support us and help us. So can you talk about this hiring funnel? Because this is super interesting to me.

Brian Town  3:54  

Yeah, and I think it all stems from my belief that, you know, I needed to surround myself with people that were better and smarter than I was. And you know, that doesn’t take much training.

Samantha Riley  4:02  

Oh, that is so not true.

Brian Town  4:06  

But I mean, I don’t know, man, some of the team members that we have now, they’re just so sharp. And so I really felt that I needed to do that. Now, I still needed to be the leader and drive that, you know, and they need to get that inspiration from me. But, you know, I’ve talked, I’ve talked about this for a long time, as you know, for example, manufacturers, skilled trades companies, you know, we’ve talked to them about their need for talent. And, you know, we go in there and I’ve been saying this for 20 years, you know, how are you hiring for talent right now, and it’s the same thing, right? And they just put up a help wanted sign or they post on Indeed, and they don’t really talk about what it’s like to work there. And they don’t talk about like, what we call their employer brand. And you know, really what you want to do is you really want to put your core values out there, put your manifesto, if you want to call it that, out there about what you believe in and what your company stands for. And you know, this all came from my first kind of year in business where I had stopped teaching. On a Friday, I had worked as an educator for 13 years and stopped teaching and decided to start a company and Monday morning, got an office. And I was like, Alright, let’s go. And, you know, a couple of weeks later, I was like, oh, man, what did I do? You know, and still today, here, 14 years later, I’m like, Yeah, but, you know, I started to look for what, you know, what makes a great company because I hadn’t run a business before, I had no idea and ran across this thing called a manifesto that was on a site that was a company called Centro, at the time out of Chicago. And it was beautiful. And it was like speaking to, like, the belief and how we wanted people to be, and how we wanted people to act if they worked for that company, and what our job was leaders, what our job as leaders was, and I, you know, I read it, and I was like, Oh, my God, this is it. And I want, you know, long story, but, you know, I contacted them, and I got to talk to the CEO, and he’s like, Absolutely, I would love for you to use this. And that single document was the basis of, of our core values. And, you know, what we found is that our core values were written in such a way that people really were like, Oh, my God, yes, that’s what I believe in, you know, and they’re simple. They’re just like, everyone around you should have a better day, you know, live to create, you know, these are the kind of things that, you know, they don’t say things like customer service, or be really good at Photoshop, or whatever, you know, it’s about how we, we expected people to be inside and outside of work. That’s the type of people that had my beliefs and our company’s beliefs, who we wanted to attract. And, you know, that funnel is, rather than talking about, you know, what the job is, how is that job going to be and what it’s, what is it going to, like, what’s it going to be like to work here? And also, you know, what type of people are we looking for? And are you that person, and I think that inspirational, you know, core values in that manifesto has helped us just attract some really, really great people, not only are they talented, they’re just really, really good people. And that’s, that’s what we wanted.

Samantha Riley  7:20  

I love that so much. Just the process of writing that manifesto, and I think I already know the answer to this, but I’m going to ask anyway, the process of writing that manifesto, how much did that help you personally, before you even moved on to finding those employees, these team members that had the same values and beliefs?

Brian Town  7:40  

Yeah, because for me, it was everything because and we still have it today, and we still are basically have the same core values. We added one more, but for me, you know, it got me to think about something bigger than just a marketing company. You know, and, and that’s what I wanted, you know, I wanted, I wanted to have a company that could really improve the lives of people that work here, and even if it was for a little bit of time, like I always felt that I wanted to have a company that did something else besides just, you know, create products and create marketing and do great work and websites and all that. So for me, that got me, you know, when I was feeling like, maybe I made a mistake, I don’t know what I’m doing. For me, and even today, I can go back to those core values. When I’m feeling like, yeah, it was a really hard week, I can go wait a minute, you know, let’s go back to your core values. I get called out sometimes on our core values, too. And, and so for me, it was I, you know, I always said that if, for whatever reason, if we decided to shut things down tomorrow, you know, just having that manifesto and having the core values and having the people that have gone through here, and that are still here, you know, I think that’ll stick with them. And, you know, for me, it just got me back read it, you know, it gets me back, you know, excited about, you know, maybe I’m doing something that’s bigger than myself some days.

Samantha Riley  9:04  

Yeah, right, because it’s lonely at the top. And I think that’s something as business owners that we, you know, don’t sort of always get into the belief, oh it’s lonely at the top, can’t do this, but having the understanding that it is lonely at the top, and implementing or having these ideas that can help us to get through. I know that you’re writing a book at the moment, The Lonely CEO, and just that, it just sings to me, because, like there’s days where I’m like, oh my goodness, how crazy am I like, what am I doing this for? I’ve been in business 30 years and I still say that to myself, like almost every week, what am I doing? But at the same time, I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s a bizarre roller coaster ride. And you know, if you talk to anyone else in business, they say the same thing. You know, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s, we’re insane. We’re an insane bunch really, aren’t we?

Brian Town  10:08  

We are. We talk about that all the time. My wife’s a new business owner after about two years now. But we talk about that very same thing. It’s that, yes, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Why did I do this, but man, I really don’t think I’d want to work for somebody else again. And, you know, it just comes in waves, you know, sometimes you’re on top of the mountain, and sometimes you’re, you know, in the valley. And, you know, I think for me, I, you know, last year about in October, you know, I was really at the point where I was talking to Holly, my wife, and she was like, you know, I don’t know what’s going on right now. But whatever it is, like, we need to figure it out. And we came up with this great plan, where I was gonna shut everything down. And, and we’re gonna go down to like, one person or two people and, and, you know, had this reasons why to do it, because I was just stressed and things weren’t working like I want it to. And I was excited. And you know, we had that plan in place. And then, you know, I came across this book, by Steven Pressfield, called The Daily Pressfield. And it had an image in there, of this character that was like, Oh, I have it right here. I put it by my desk. Oh, wow. So it had this character of this guy laying in bed, and it says, What time, when does resistance or resistance wakes up with me. And I was reading this book, and it was talking about this, this like imposter syndrome and questioning yourself and resistance to do what you know you need to do. And that simple belief of that you are the one and you know, I think I got to this point where I, you know, we all do this, we all look at all the people that we follow, and all the successful and you talk to successful people all day long. And so we just assume they got it all figured out. And, you know, the truth is, like you said, they’re just like us, and no one does what we, like, we just think that everyone runs a business because that’s all we hang out with. In reality is, no one does. And very few people are able to do it very successfully. And so for me, when I, when I saw that, I was like, I went out, and I had my headphones on, and Holly and I get up early, and she was doing her thing. And I was like, Hey, I figured it out. And I was like, I was like, had my headphones off. She’s like, what’s going on, I go, I figured it out. It’s this resistance piece, that’s just this lack of self confidence all the time. And, you know, sticking back into those core values, like we were talking to earlier. And, and for me, you know, we didn’t shut the company down. And then things just started to happen, like, you know, decided to write the book. And that started to come together, met a great editor, slimmed down our staff some, and found some great resources for outsourcing. And so just that simple, you know, five minutes of me kind of figuring out what was going on. And that belief in myself, again, I think, fixed everything, because as a CEO, you know, like it or not, your team is looking to you to always have it all figured out. And to be that guiding light. And when you’re down, I don’t know what the percentage is. But when you’re down 100%, your team feels that by 50%. And so, for me, you know, that made a big difference now. You know, we didn’t, we didn’t end up shutting down, and we ended up, you know, actually having one of the better years that we’ve had. And it was, I really believe that it was simply me just back into that mode again, that I was, you know, when I first started out. And so if I feel, if I feel like that, I bet other people feel like that. And I’ve coached a few people that have businesses and this my favourite story is she runs this really nice smoothie bar and her husband runs a gym. And it’s beautiful in there. And I was coaching her and I was talking to her and she’s like, Man, I feel like I’m screwing everything up. And I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing. And, and I feel like I’m all alone and that none of this is good. I’m like, hold on a minute. Like, look around for a second. Like, this is amazing. What do you know this, look at this, look at what you’ve done in one year, like, no one does this, like you’re the only one that could have done this. And you know, for her that was great. But then for me, it was also a good reminder. You know, we’re really good at giving advice, but sometimes we have to say it aloud to ourselves.

Samantha Riley  14:53  

I think that the most beautiful part of coaching is that we have such a belief in our clients and we’ll say things, and often it’s a mirror coming back to us to go, Yeah, so you’ve got this. You know, it’s crazy that we’ve got so much belief in our clients, and you know my clients say to me often, like you believe in me more than I do. But I have those moments too, that you’re talking about those moments of doubt, those moments like, Oh my God, I’ve got no idea what I’m doing. How can I be doing this for 30 years and still have no clue what I’m doing? And I recently heard a story about Richard Branson being in a, I don’t know if it was a board meeting or a pitch meeting or something where someone was talking about and asking about net profit. And whoever was retelling this story was in the room and took a look over at Richard Branson and could see his eyes glazing over. And, you know, he was scratching at his pad. And he sort of like, took him outside and went, you’ve got no idea what net profit is, do you? And Richard Branson is like, nope, no clue whatsoever. And that story seriously, it made me feel so much better about myself to think oh, if he didn’t know. And he’s built these multi, multi million and billion dollar companies. It’s okay that I don’t know some things as well. And we can find out and learn along the way. And sometimes we won’t know things, and it won’t actually make a difference. Like I’m all for being educated. But we can’t know everything. And it’s quite okay.

Brian Town  16:32  

Well, and I think with a small entrepreneurial business, you know, like a lot of people that we work with and talk to, like, you have to be at, sometimes a lot of different, you got to wear a lot of different hats. And so in a perfect world, we would be at that at Branson level, and we would work on, you know, two things, the vision of the company and making sure our employees are taken care of, and that’s it. And you know, those high level sales pieces, but you know, like today, I’m all of those things, right? I’m that visionary, I’m on this podcast and trying to market, I was doing payroll before I got on this. I was sending invoices. And then I think I was writing some copy earlier. I mean, so yeah, you know.

Samantha Riley  17:12  

Doing all the things.

Brian Town  17:16  

Ordering some toilet paper later, probably, you know. I do have some support. And that, you know, and that really goes into that first discussion that we had too, Sam is, you know, start to think about those, those things that you’re not good at, that you’re just awful. Like, I’m terrible at project management, okay, I just don’t like it. I’m a creative person, it’s too organised. And so I have some really, really good project managers, and I, you know, once in a while, I’ll kind of, you know, get in there and try to do some project management, and then they yell at me, and then I go away. So I think, you know, getting those people that are better than you at certain things is going to be a really, really good strategy for you. Because then you can start to get into what you really should be doing as the CEO. And that’s, that’s hard. I’m here, 13, 14 years later, and I’m still doing those things.

Samantha Riley  18:15  

It’s the truth, right? Let’s talk a little bit more about imposter syndrome. Because, you know, you just mentioned that you can bring other people in. But there’s also this really bizarre part of being a human where that sounds so simple, yet when you’re really thinking, I’m just making this up as I go along, it can also be very scary to bring these people in, because you’ve got this fear of like, they’re going to know that I’m no good, and they’re not going to want to work with me or want to be with me. How do you deal with this monster?

Brian Town  18:50  

Yeah, I don’t know. No. Right. Sam, I’m 51. And I’m still struggling with it from time to time. But you know, I talk about this in the book, and my wife and I talked about it is I think I’m glad that I have it in some form or another at points, because if I didn’t, I don’t think I’d work as hard because I think I’m always trying to outperform myself. And I’m trying to make sure that, you know, they’re not going to find out that I’m just an imposter because I’m just going to do so much that they won’t even try to look. But so I think at some points, it’s good. The problem is, is when it gets to the point where it’s really starting to, you know, maybe you don’t want to get out of bed or maybe you’re not wanting to do the things that you know you need to do because you don’t think you’re going to do a great job at them. And I think, you know, that happened to me back, you know, especially you know, back in October is where, you know if in reality if I look around at what I’ve built, you know, I had a really successful career in education. All of my four children are just, it couldn’t be any better, they’re all successful adults, and we still have a nine year old. I mean, they’re just amazing. My wife has done a great job with her business, we live in a beautiful house and, and at times, I was like, well, has nothing to do with me. And, and that’s just silly. And so, that moment when I told Sarah to look around at what she built, that is what I tried to do for myself is just take a moment, because we’re always worried about what happened before. And what happened, what’s going to happen next, or what could happen is, you know, take a moment to look at our building that we have, I bought a building two years ago for our company. And I mean, that’s a building I own. And we’ve got equipment in there. And it’s all stuff that I, because of not, you know, because of the team and the company, and my leadership, it’s all stuff that we were able to do. And so taking that minute to just pause, and also something else that I told a younger woman that I was coaching who was brand new in the business, and she had quit a job to go do it. She was, I think she has a master’s degree. And I was like Crimson, you know, there is no one better to do this, right? And then we talked about all that. And then I was like, Alright, let’s go worst case scenario. So here’s a worst case, and this is as bad as it’s gonna get, Crimson. And she was kind of worried. And I said, well, the business won’t make it. And then you’ll go get a really good paying job. And that’s it. That’s like, worst case possibly can get. She’s like, well, that’s not too bad. I’m like, yeah, no, I know. It’s not that bad.

Samantha Riley  21:42  

We make it  into these huge things, don’t we? Like, Oh, my goodness, what if and when you really look at it like that, it’s like, oh, yeah, it’s taking the pressure off. Ah, okay. All right. That’s it. We can keep going.

Brian Town  21:56  

Yeah. And so I have to remind myself all the time of that. And I think doing things like this, honestly, like you said, coaching, like, coaching makes me not only feel good, because I’m giving great advice that I need to take myself. But also, I’m helping someone see, like, like Crimson all sudden, like, now she’s just done a great job with that simple belief that she is the one. And I think, doing things like this and talking to you, I’m super passionate about this topic. And for me like this is going to make my night, then it’ll make the rest of the week go really well, just because I think doing things like this and getting out and talking about what you’re passionate about. And those kinds of things. Are, you’re able to go well, you know, the only way I could talk about all these things with so much passion is because I’ve actually done a decent job. So that’s been helpful.

Samantha Riley  22:48  

I love that you just said that, that last piece because I was sitting here thinking, this is such a great conversation, like this lights me up, it makes my body feel excited, I know that I’m going to go straight from this interview, into getting a whole heap of stuff done. But it’s so important to surround ourselves with the right people and bring these topics up, like not lift up the carpet and push them under there and keep them in the dark, but actually talk about them to realise it’s not just me, this is actually just normal. And having conversation with really smart people that understand the journey. It’s just, you know, just knowing that there’s someone else there that feels like us. It’s like, oh, yes, not only do we feel better about ourselves, but now we’re energised to go forward even more.

Brian Town  23:34  

Yeah, yeah. And I think for me, like I’m getting the chills just that because, you know, just that something like yeah, you know, I look at where I was before. And my first career and I loved it. But you know, I was a teacher. So we didn’t have these connections, like I would have never, never met you. I would have never met, you know, any of the clients. I’ve been in some, you know, Fortune 500 CEOs talking to them. Like, none of that would have happened if I didn’t take that leap. And I think, you know, one of my coaches told me that this is, I have to remember too to tell myself is that when it feels really, really, really hard, you’re close. You’re close to figuring it out. And I was like, Okay, well, I must be really close to a lot of things. He’s like, no, no. He’s like, Yeah. He’s like, You’re close, you’re right on that edge. And, you know, it’s those struggles that I think, and my wife really, you know, being a new entrepreneur, and it’s been nice having her to kind of, you know, I can help her with the things that I, you know, messed up and things that I would have done differently and, and she’s brilliant and, and so for her, she kind of said it, I think in a real beautiful way is that she said, you know, she’s a PA and she started a med spa. So she’s super smart, but she’s like, you know, I thought I just start this company and it would just be great. And it would be, you know, would just have this wonderful company and we’d see patients and those kinds of things. And then, and then I started to get more employees. And then we started to get busier. And then we got the  building and then the building, basement flooded, and this employee laughed, and, and then she’s like, you know, and then for me, it was like, all these problems, but now, now she’s just like, yeah, they’re just kind of just issues and steps that we have to figure out. And, you know, we’ll figure one out. And then next time, we’ll know not to do that. And maybe, you know, and it’s never going to end. Like I don’t think there’s ever going to be a time where things just work out all the time. It’s gonna get easier. But the only reason it got easier is because it was harder before. And I think thinking about that in your hardest, darkest times that there’s a reason, you know, this is hard is, you know, because on the other side of it, you know, you may have something else, but it’s probably not going to be that issue again.

Samantha Riley  26:04  

Totally. I’m just gonna take a timeout for two secs, your microphone is disconnected. 

Brian Town 

Is it now? 

Samantha Riley

Not on. 

Brian Town

Is it on?

Samantha Riley  26:29

Oh, there we go. We’re back. Okay, we’re back. Okay, sorry. Awesome. No, no, no, that’s fine. Let’s, no worries at all. I was gonna let it go. Because I was like, we’re in flow. But I’m like, no because it’s, it sounded so different. Okay. All right. So bring it back. What was the very last thing you said? You were talking about your wife, and I really liked what you were saying.

Brian Town  26:55  

I can, you know, I can pick it up with that story with her.

Samantha Riley  27:00  

Yeah, do that. Because then it does. It sounds way better. Yeah.

Brian Town  27:06  

Yeah, yeah. And I think my wife, you know, she, she’s a new business owner. And she’s brilliant. And, you know, she really said it beautifully, and kind of made me think about those hard times. And, and she’s only been doing it for about two years, but she’s been really successful. And, you know, the way that she put it is she’s like, you know, I thought I’d start this business, and it would just be awesome. And things would just work out. And you know, we would just run this business, we’d see patients and things would be great. And, and then, you know, she hired another employee, and then she hired a couple more, and then she bought a building and they got busy. And then things just started to happen, normal things, nothing serious, the basement kind of flooded. One employee they thought was great, wasn’t great. You know, so it’s just these things that come up, and she’s like, you know, at first I was like, Oh, my god Are these just going to be problems all day long. And then she kind of was like, you know, they’re just things that we have to figure out. And every time we figure one out, there’s going to be another one. But we figured that piece out so that, that’s probably not going to happen again. And they’re just issues, I think she said, and they’re just things that we have to figure out. And every time you figure something out, and every time it’s really, really hard, you know that on the other side, it’s not gonna be for that, and, and it’ll never stop, like, there’s never going to be a time, it’s gonna get easier for all of us. Because we’re all learning. And I think there’s never going to be a time where you don’t have to deal with issues, you know. It may be you go weeks with none, you know, and sometimes you do, but there’s always going to be something and it’s your job, the owner, the CEO, to make the best decision that you can with the information that you have at the time.

Samantha Riley  28:55  

I love that. Your wife sounds super duper smart. I think it’s very, very easy to let those things get on top of you when you’re not in a good headspace, where you’re having a bad day, or you’ve had a whole heap of things go wrong. It can be very easy to get into a downward spiral at those times, and just be like, I can’t do this. I’m not good enough. Just recently, earlier this year, I took on a project and I just said to my husband, I’m going to not get overwhelmed, because I could get overwhelmed really easily. It’s a new project. So there’s a million new things. And I said I’m going to take on this project as an experiment and not going to overwhelm ever. And just pre framing the project with that thought, I got through it where every time I thought I was like, Yeah, but you’re not overwhelmed. Just what do you need to do next? And I can tell you I have never done a project ever and had it go so simply from a personal perspective, let me tell you. If the amount of things that could have gone wrong did, like we had to at one point, there was a whole piece of software that didn’t work, we’d spent weeks putting this whole thing together. And then on three days notice we had to completely rebuild it out again. There was a moment where I went and went, nope, take a breath. We’re just going to get it done. And it was a brilliant experiment for me just to prove how much our mindset and the way that we choose to be in a moment can affect our business so much. And I can’t believe it took me all that time to do that experiment. I wish I would have done that 25 years ago, right. 

Brian Town  30:39  

Yeah, and I always, I always say that too. I’m like, God, if I would have done it this way a long time ago. But you know, I wouldn’t, I didn’t have the information, I had never done anything like this, like, I could have never written this book without all, you know, 13 years of sweat and tears. And I think, you know, we’re making the best decision that we possibly can make at that time. And you know, there’s no one else that can make the decision. And so, for me, I think you’re right, you were talking earlier about that downward spiral. And I’m, my wife knows, and she knows me better than anyone. And when I’m not feeling great about the business, I start thinking about other things like, oh, I should have spent more time reading with Cora last night. Or oh, why is, why haven’t the boys called me yet? It’s like, I sound like an old grandma, you know? And, and she’s like, why do you do that, like, and it’s this that reframing, and again, taking that moment to be present and now and, you know, I’ve read a lot of books on that is, you know, at any given moment, the only time that really matters is right now. I mean, there’s absolutely nothing, nothing else you can control besides how you’re feeling right now, and for me, you know, sticking with a morning routine, making sure that when I’m feeling, you know, a certain way about the business, that I’m not letting that take me down, and then just having open and honest conversations with each other, and we’re pretty good at reading the room, like, so far, like, thank goodness, you know, both of us are in a real bad spot at the same time. Because I don’t know what would happen then. But, you know, we’re able to bring, you know, bring each other up, and, and she just kind of walks me off the ledge. And then I do the same thing with her and everything’s fine.

Samantha Riley  32:31  

It’s interesting that you say that, because my husband, Leon and I have said the same thing, that we always seem to be dipping at different times. And it’s, and I’m going to say that there’s, there’s something great out there. And I know there is any way that supports us to do that, because I noticed when he dips, that’s when I’m at a super high, and I’m able to go, Hey, look like you know, we, I’m in this great place. And there’s another way and you know, I can bring him back. And the same thing with me, it always seems that I do my really big deep dives, when he’s in a really good place. I think that it happens for a reason, because you wouldn’t want to dip at the same time, it’s gonna be really bad. But it’s, you know, having gratitude for, you know, for these people around us that help us do that, whether it’s our spouse, or whether it’s, you know, a business bestie or, you know, whoever it is, there’s, we need to have that person there. That’s that sounding board that we can be open and honest with. And that needs to be someone that’s in a sacred circle with us. That can’t be just anyone, someone that really knows us that we can have the trust to know and the safety that we can say the real truth of how we’re feeling without being afraid that it will be thrown back in our face. Does that make sense? 

Brian Town  33:51  

Yeah, it does. And I think that’s why I named the book that is just because, you know, at the top, you know, I don’t feel like I’m at the top. But, you know, you are kind of alone, because you can’t really share your fears and worries with your staff. And you know, you have to be that inspirational leader at all times, when you can. You can’t really share your fears and worries necessarily with your friends, especially if they don’t run a business because they don’t get it. They don’t want to hear you complain. And so, you know, getting that business coach or that therapist or having a CEO group, where you can really just honest and open and tell them what you’re worried about is has to be done because, you know, it’s you know, at the end of the day, it’s going to be really really lonely, especially if you have, you know, a large staff is that, you know, you the minute I learned this the hard way like, you know, you say a couple of things on a staff meeting like they were just thinking about making some changes and really, you know, restructuring some things and all sudden they’re like, All right, who’s getting, who’s getting like, Oh, yeah. And so they listen to every word that you say. And they watch every move, and they’re there for you. And so I think, yeah, I don’t know what I would do, you know, it’s been really nice having her as a business owner, because before she was an ortho surgery, and she was still my sounding board, right. But now, I can say things and she gets it. Yeah. And I think that’s why having that other person that’s in a business, or a CEO group, where you guys can have confidential conversations is, you know, one of the best things that you probably could do for your business.

Samantha Riley  35:51  

What is one of the key, I guess, areas of the book, The Lonely CEO, that’s come up for you, as you’re writing it, that’s kind of maybe surprised you in a, in a way that the topic has expanded?

Brian Town  36:10  

Yeah, you know, there’s a lot of things in there. And I didn’t think you know, for that beginning part is more about like, how I was feeling and kind of how it was down and how I was figuring that out. And then it kind of walks, walks, you know, through that piece of how I got out of it. But then what was really cool is, as we’re kind of going through the chapters, you know, we started to put things in there about marketing, and about sales and how to do sales, and you know, how to organise and create your core values. And then, for me, that was, you know, really, really cool, because I didn’t think that that would be an entire chapter on core values, right, or entire chapter on sales. And then also, for me, it was like, when we were done, and then the editor sent it back, I was like, Man, this guy sounds smart. 

Samantha Riley  37:06  

Funny about that, right?

Brian Town  37:09  

Yeah. And that was the same thing with Esther, and, you know, and a couple other people that are helping me do some courses, you know, wanted this one guy that’s helping me with, I’m creating a course based on that. And, you know, when I first met him, I told him my story and told him who I was and what I had done. And it was just like, whatever, you know, this has all been easy, blah, blah, blah, no big deal. And he was like, Yeah, you know, and then he was talking, he’s like, Yeah, we should write something like, you know, I run a successful seven figure business, and I almost all shut it down. But here’s what I did. And I was like, oh, yeah, that’d be great. I’d love to talk to that guy and love to see his stuff. And he was like, No, dude, I’m talking about you. And I’m like, oh, like, I think for me, it’s been, whether anybody buys the book or not, I think, for me, it’s been a really good exercise, you know, it’s kind of like journaling, and it’s kind of like, getting everything out there in this 10,15 chapter book that, you know, I must know something. Because it’s not gonna, you know, it’s not going to be, the editor would tell me that’s not very good. And maybe not because I’m paying them. But I think for me expanding on not just that mindset piece, and how to get out of imposter syndrome. But then the tactics like, calendar schedule, and morning routines, and those kinds of things grew into something a lot bigger, like, I never thought they would be chapters on their own. So that was really cool. That was, that’s been a great experience for me. 

Samantha Riley  38:47  

I love that so much. Well, I can tell you, I will definitely be buying the book. I think it sounds fabulous. It definitely is speaking to me, The Lonely CEO is something that I absolutely resonate with. For anyone else that’s listening that would like to connect with you so that they can be notified when the book comes out. But also to see all of the other things that you have to offer. How can they do that?

Brian Town  39:12  

Yeah, really easy, Sam, it’s briantown.io. So B R I A N town dot io. And that’s got every link you could need. My calendar accesses there too. So love to talk to anyone and entrepreneurs, if you just want to get on a call, we can cry together. That’s fine, too.

Samantha Riley  39:31  

Love it, love it. And of course, all those links, that one link will be below wherever you’re listening now. Brian, thanks so much for coming on the show and just really opening up and having a deep and honest conversation about what it’s like being at the top. I really appreciate it and it’s just so, it’s adding so much value to people just to say, hey, we’re all here. This is the way we’re all doing it and to also go, you know what, we do know some stuff. We get caught in our heads saying we’re making it up as we go along, but we do know some stuff and we’re all here to do some great things in our lives. So thank you so much for opening that conversation up.

Brian Town  40:12  

You’re welcome. Thank you. It’s pure madness. So, so glad to be on here and see you again soon.