Leadership consultant John Durso shares a deceptively simple exercise that reveals what your values actually are — not the ones on your website.

Most leaders can't actually name their real values. They list the words on their website — honesty, integrity, loyalty — and call it a day. John Durso says those aren't values. They're table stakes.

In this episode, John walks Matt through a deceptively simple exercise that reveals what your values actually are: ask one or two people who know you well to describe you in one word, then ask them to tell a story that backs it up. What comes back is rarely what you'd predict.

John's wife described him as "unstoppable." Matt's two people landed on "charisma" and "generous." And the magic of the exercise isn't just learning what others see in you — it's that the word they choose tells you what they value most, which is critical leadership intel.

John spent over 22 years in retail banking working with hundreds of small businesses and nonprofits across the greater Philadelphia region. Today he runs Brilliant Business Strategies, helping community banks, credit unions, nonprofits, and small businesses build stronger leadership, healthier cultures, and better team performance.

In this conversation:

- Why "honesty" and "integrity" don't count as real values
- The one-word exercise — and why the story matters more than the word
- How perception becomes reality inside your company
- What Disney's Winnie the Pooh casting reveals about hiring for values
- How a new leader can use this exercise in their first 30 days

If you're a founder or CEO stepping into a bigger role — whether that's a hypergrowth season, a succession moment, or a move into thought leadership — this is foundational work. The kind serious leaders do at the start and return to when things get complicated.

CONNECT WITH JOHN DURSO
Website: brilliantbusinessstrategies.com
LinkedIn: search "John Durso Brilliant Business Strategies"

CONNECT WITH MATT STONE & THE BIGGER STAGE
The Bigger Stage helps founder-CEOs make the operator-to-icon transition.
Website: thebiggerstage.com
LinkedIn: search "Matt Stone Bigger Stage"

Subscribe wherever you listen for more conversations with leaders stepping onto bigger stages.

Kate Joynt co-invented a product nobody was searching for. Then one influencer post took her Amazon sales from 25 a day to 800 — and EZ Outlet landed in Home Depot.

Full Show Notes

Kate Joynt is the founder and CEO of EZ Outlet, an electrical outlet extender now sold at Home Depot, on Amazon, on Walmart.com, and featured twice on NBC's Today Show.

She didn't come from consumer products. She came from real estate, enterprise tech sales, and a lifelong fascination with inventions that started with a kid-invention show on Nickelodeon. When her co-founder Tony made an offhand comment one day — "wouldn't it be cool if you could just plug something into the original outlet and pull the power up here, above the couch?" — Kate's ear was already primed for it.

What followed was years of prototyping, UL certification, factory sourcing, tooling and molding investments, and a brutal early period of paying for clicks that weren't there. Because nobody was searching for "electrical outlet extender." The category didn't exist yet.

Then one influencer posted one video. Sales went from 25 a day to 800 in an hour. Home Depot followed.

But the part of this conversation I keep coming back to isn't the wins. It's Kate describing her business as a "glass bubble" — fragile, vulnerable, something she had to protect through years where investors told her to keep going but nobody wrote a check until she didn't need one. It's her honesty about the stress that doesn't show up in pitch decks. And it's the specific, hard-won wisdom she has for the next founder standing where she was five years ago.

If you're an operator with an idea you keep almost-pursuing, or a founder in the messy middle of building something real, this episode is for you.

In this conversation:

What EZ Outlet actually is, and why the problem it solves is so universal • Why it took years to get to market and what "overnight success" really looks like • The conversation that sparked the idea, and why Kate's ear was ready for it • Working with a co-founder who's your polar opposite • How she found engineers, factories, and a buying agent without a manufacturing background • The shocks of UL certification and consumer product compliance • Why pay-per-click failed and one influencer post changed everything • Getting on NBC's Today Show — twice • The copycat problem, the safety stakes, and protecting the brand • The emotional toll of being all-in on one product • Why investors only fund you once you don't need them • Three pieces of advice for the next generation of founders

About Kate Joynt Kate Joynt is the founder and CEO of EZ Outlet, a patent holder, and an ETL-certified entrepreneur. Her background spans a decade in real estate and enterprise technology sales. Find EZ Outlet at Home Depot, on Amazon, on Walmart.com, and occasionally on HSN.

EZ Outlet website: https://ezoutlet.com/

Kate Joynt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katejoynt/

About The Bigger Stage The Bigger Stage is a podcast for founder-CEOs making the leap from operator to recognized authority. Hosted by Matt Stone, founder of The Bigger Stage. Learn more at thebiggerstage.com.

If this episode landed for you, the best thing you can do is share it with one founder who needs to hear it — and leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It's how more people find the show.

He built the largest painting company in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Then he let go. Kevin Nolan on identity, succession, and the happiest chapter yet.

Kevin Nolan started with a paintbrush, a roommate, and a college student's ambition. Forty years later he'd built the largest residential painting company in Southeastern Pennsylvania — and done something most founders never manage.

He actually let go.

In this episode, Matt Stone sits down with Kevin for a wide-ranging conversation about what an entrepreneurial life really looks like across four decades. The 17 years Kevin spent grinding in the dark with no business plan, just payroll on Friday. The Zig Ziglar moment at 37 that changed everything. How he found his CEO and CFO hiding on his own paint crews. And what those final 18 months felt like — staying quiet in meetings he used to run.

In September 2024, Kevin retired. He says it felt like rocks coming off his shoulders.

This is a conversation about identity, legacy, and the courage it takes to step into something new.

In this episode:

• Why Kevin says he was never a painter — even when he was painting
• The Zig Ziglar line that launched his "second entrepreneurial seizure" at 37
• How John (an Eagle Scout from Sherwin-Williams) became his CEO 30 years later
• The 20-foot KPI wall — including profit — that every employee could see
• What emotional intelligence looks like inside a trades business
• The Wally story: why great leaders run toward conflict, not away
• Writing the final chapter of his career — before it happened
• September 2024: retirement and the rocks off his shoulders
• Running a marathon in all 50 states — and what that taught him about business
• Graduating 2,300th out of 2,600 at Villanova. And why he's glad he did.

Resources mentioned:

• Organizational Muscle by Kevin Nolan — https://a.co/d/0gywqBST
• Good to Great — Jim Collins
• Emotional Intelligence — Daniel Goleman
• The E-Myth Revisited — Michael Gerber
• How to Win Friends and Influence People — Dale Carnegie
• How to Stop Worrying and Start Living — Dale Carnegie

Connect with Kevin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinjnolan1/

Connect with Matt: Website: thebiggerstage.com
Email: matt@mattstone.co