Not every leader was “forged in fire.” Some of us were built in silence — through hard work, consistency, and showing up every damn day.

In this episode of Beyond the Bottom Line, Ron Miller unpacks the dangerous myth that your story only has value if it comes with a redemption arc, a comeback tale, or a polished LinkedIn headshot with piano music behind it.

From a Ted Lasso dartboard lesson to a Captain Marvel mic drop, this episode challenges the performative culture of “origin stories” and calls for a return to what really builds trust: quiet wins, consistency, and authenticity.

Because you don’t owe anyone a trauma reel. Your story doesn’t have to be a comeback. It just has to be real.

Tune in and let’s normalize the steady builder.

If applying for a job today or your hiring process feels like running the American Ninja Warrior course—with fewer wins and more bruises—you’re not imagining it.

In this episode of Beyond the Bottom Line, I break down the absurdity of the modern candidate journey, obstacle by obstacle: From job postings that bait and switch, to tech stacks that spin you off like a rolling log, to interview gauntlets that would make Navy SEALs tap out.

And then… I introduce you to Alvin. A real candidate. A real story. And a masterclass in how broken hiring still is, even when someone does everything right.

If your hiring process looks like a challenge course, don’t be surprised when the best talent doesn’t show up.

Let’s talk about how to fix it—because Elevate Talent Solutions was built for exactly this.

You can’t market what you don’t understand—and no, marketing isn’t just logos, taglines, and another sad LinkedIn post with stock photos of diverse hands high-fiving.

In this episode of Beyond the Bottom Line, I’m joined by my not-so-secret weapon, marketing strategist and truth-teller Adrianne Ruthhart of ACR Ventures. Together, we unpack why most companies are dead wrong about what marketing really is.

Spoiler: It starts internally. If your own team can’t articulate your values, culture, or mission—why should anyone else believe it?

We talk:

• Internal branding and why your employees are your loudest (and most honest) megaphone
• How poor internal messaging crushes recruiting efforts
• Why rejection emails are marketing (yes, those)
• And why having a marketing contractor on retainer might be the smartest leadership move no one’s talking about

If your recruiting and marketing teams sound like they're speaking the same language but can't understand each other—this one's for you.

Visit:
🎯 Elevate Talent Solutions
🎯 ACR Ventures

And remember: your brand is what you say it is... and what your people feel it is.

Let’s cut the fluff—recruiting is broken.

Not because people don’t want to work, but because the whole damn process is a mess. In this no-holds-barred episode of Beyond the Bottom Line, Ron Miller (30-year recruiting vet turned CEO of Elevate Talent Solutions) breaks down exactly why hiring today is stuck in the mud—and what’s got to change.

🚫 Spray-and-pray job posts
🚫 Undertrained recruiters
🚫 Empty pipelines
🚫 Oversold AI
🚫 Marketing that doesn’t market
🚫 “Cereal aisle” candidate selling
🚫 A complete lack of strategy

This episode is for the hiring leaders, recruiters, founders, and execs who are tired of pretending it's all fine.

If your ATS is bloated, your roles are still open, and you're posting the same job for the third time this month—this one’s for you.

You’ll walk away with:

• 7 brutally honest reasons your recruiting process sucks
• Real strategies that work (and have worked for decades)
• Why training is your silent revenue killer
• How Elevate Talent Solutions can help you fix it—for real

Smart hiring starts with honest reflection.
Let’s stop playing the blame game and start building teams that last.

Learn more: www.elevatetalentsolutions.com
Follow the podcast, share the episode, and let’s recruit like it actually matters.

Let’s be real—sometimes the universe doesn’t whisper, it kicks you straight in the career path.

In this Mailbag episode of Beyond the Bottom Line, we’re answering your real questions about what happens after you've applied to 1,100 jobs and heard back from… basically nobody. Ron and Adrianne dive deep into the unsexy, uncensored truths of launching something on your own—especially when you're over 40, short on time (and cash), and still expected to be the breadwinner, tech expert, and operations guru all at once.

We’re talking:

• Why ghosting led to growth (and a business launch)
• The lies sold to new entrepreneurs (spoiler: there is no magic marketing bullet)
• Fractional support, real infrastructure, and why your HR "heater" isn’t ready for that business addition
• The biggest mistake small businesses make when scaling

This isn’t fluff. It’s the advice we wish someone had given us sooner.

Whether you're building, rebuilding, or just realizing the corporate ladder might be missing a few rungs, pull up a chair—we’re breaking it all down.

Website: www.elevatetalentsolutions.com
Questions for the next mailbag? Drop them in the show notes or shoot us a message.

“It’s a moral imperative.” – Real Genius
That’s how I felt when we hit record on our first Beyond The Bottom Line Mailbag episode.

Because the questions you sent in? 🔥
We’re talking AI that filters people like poultry, broken ATS workflows, recruiting shortcuts disguised as strategy, and what actually happens when you plug in tech without fixing the foundation.

It’s not a Q&A.
It’s a reality check.
And yes, it’s funny—because if we don’t laugh at some of this chaos, we’re all just crying into poorly written job descriptions.

I’m joined by Adrienne Ruthhart—marketing brain, podcast wrangler, and unofficial voice of reason.

Give the first Mailbag a listen. Then send in your own questions… before your business quietly burns in the background.

New Episode: I’d Like to Thank the Academy… But My Therapist Says No

It’s award season again.
Or at least LinkedIn says it is.

“Top 100 Places to Work (With Unlimited Bagels).”
“Best (insert whatever) Within 3 Miles of a Trader Joe’s.”
“Most Improved Use of a Branded Hashtag in Q2.”

We’ve all seen it.
And yeah, I’ve played the game over 30 years—I’ve got 18 awards to prove it.

But this episode isn’t about the wins.
It’s about what they cost.

The life moments you quietly traded away.
The mental toll of chasing perfection.
The physical crash your body eventually cashes in on.

As Tyler Durden said in Fight Club:
“The things you own...... they end up owning you.”

And yeah—turns out that includes the shiny trophies too.

There are no awards for setting boundaries.
No trophies for avoiding burnout.
No LinkedIn badge for choosing your health or your loved ones over your ego.

But maybe there should be.

This week on Beyond the Bottom Line, we’re talking about the price of the climb—and what it takes to reclaim your definition of success.

Catch the full episode now. Bring your honesty, and maybe a stiff drink!

#BeyondTheBottomLine #LeadershipWithoutTheLie #BurnoutIsNotABadge #TrophiesDontHugYouBack #EntrepreneurshipUnfiltered

Beyond the Bottom Line is back—with less fluff, more grit.

We’re back. And if you're reading this, you’re probably in the thick of running a business, building a team, or trying to fix what someone else broke. Same.

In this relaunch of Beyond the Bottom Line, I get into what sparked it all—standing in the grocery store meat aisle trying to buy chicken thighs, and realizing: this is exactly how AI is treating candidates. We’ve turned people into products, and recruiting into a pattern-matching game where resumes are filtered like packages of poultry.

This episode is part rant, part reality check, and fully grounded in 30 years of scars, screw-ups, and figuring it out the hard way. I’m not anti-AI. I’m anti-bad process, bad training, and the idea that automation should ever replace actual connection.

So if you’re a recruiter, a leader, a founder, or just someone trying to hire and retain people the right way—pull up a seat.

Let’s talk about hiring with purpose, fixing what’s broken, and why the hell we all need to stop letting tech make decisions we should be owning.