In baseball, you can feel when a team cares.

You walk into the clubhouse…
You watch how players treat the equipment manager…
You see the energy in batting practice.

You know immediately.

The same thing happens in business.

Customers can feel when a company actually gives a damn.

And when they do…
they become your biggest promoters.

In this episode of WINNERS FIND A WAY, Trent Clark sits down with Justin Ricklefs, founder of Guild Collective and author of Give a Damn, to talk about the real competitive advantage in business today: human connection.

Justin shares how brands win when they stop shouting about their products… and start telling stories that connect with people.

This conversation covers:

• Why your brand story matters more than your marketing budget
• The biggest mistake companies make when communicating with customers
• Why Chick-fil-A, Nike, and Apple dominate through emotional connection
• How great leaders build companies that people actually care about
• The power of customer delight in a noisy marketplace

As Justin says:

"Your brand is the story people tell about you when you're not in the room."

Winners Find a Way_ Guest-Justi…

The question every leader should ask is simple:

What story are people telling about your company?

Justin Ricklefs is the Founder and CEO of Guild Collective, a Human-First brand agency helping organizations grow through clarity, connection, and creativity.

Before launching Guild Collective, Justin spent years working in sports organizations including the Kansas City Chiefs, helping build partnerships and revenue through strategic storytelling.

Justin is also the author of Give a Damn: The Catalyst for Caring Companies, a book that challenges businesses to rediscover the power of caring about customers, employees, and community.

He lives in Kansas City with his wife Brooke and their five children.

Justin Ricklefs
Website: https://guildcollective.com
Book: Give a Damn

Connect with Justin
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinricklefs/

📺 YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@leadershipity

🎧 Podcast Page
https://podcast.winnersfindaway.us/podcast

Our friend Andy Whittier is chasing his Olympic dream in Skeleton for the 2026 Winter Olympics — a sport where athletes race head-first down an ice track at nearly 80–90 mph.

Olympic athletes often fund much of this journey themselves.

If you'd like to support Andy and the mission, you can contribute here:

👉 Support the Olympic Journey
https://trent-clark.com/olympic--2026

Baseball is generational.

I grew up listening to Tigers games on the radio. The game meant something. It still does.

So when the Hall of Fame misses on greatness — it matters.

In this episode, I sit down with baseball historian and author David W. Gue to challenge the current voting system and ask a bold question:

Are we honoring excellence… or protecting narratives?

The Barry Bonds Debate

Tommy John & The Forgotten Greats

If a system doesn't reward performance, it loses credibility.

That's true in baseball.

That's true in business.

Leaders fix broken systems.

Winners find a way.

David W. Gue is the author of The Baseball Hall of Fame: A Fan's Statistical Analysis, advocating for a fair, measurable Hall of Fame voting process.

📺 YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@leadershipity

🎙 Podcast:

https://podcast.winnersfindaway.us/podcast

👉 Learn more about Trent's Bloom Growth coaching framework here:

https://www.bloomgrowthcoach.com/coaches/trent-clark/

Support the Olympic dream:
👉 https://trent-clark.com/olympic--2026

We've built elite athletes.

But are we building strong humans?

In this episode of WINNERS FIND A WAY, I sit down with Gary Thrapp — youth sports advocate, author, and owner of Beyond The Baseline — to talk about where youth sports is headed… and what it's costing us.

This conversation isn't soft.

It's real.

With over 40 years in youth sports, Gary Thrapp has facilitated more than 50,000 games at his facility in Davenport, Iowa

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. He's the owner of Beyond The Baseline, a premier basketball and volleyball event center, and author of The Wild World of Youth Sports.

Gary focuses on:

• Leadership development

• Character formation

• Community engagement

• Creating equitable opportunities for kids

He works on the front lines of youth development every single day

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.

And what he's seeing should get every parent's attention.

The money conversation isn't going away.

But when recruiting replaces development…
When metrics replace fundamentals…
When ego replaces effort…

We have a problem.

We talked about:

• NIL filtering down to youth levels

• The transfer portal mindset

• Winning vs. developing

• Recruiting talent vs. building skill

Gary told a story that hit me hard.

A third grader asked him:

"Why are you making us work while the adults are staring at their phones?"

That's leadership.

From a third grader.

We discussed:

• Attention spans collapsing

• Coaches competing with TikTok

• Parents missing the moments

• The competitive edge of focus

If you want your child to have an advantage?
Put the phone down.

Gary's book Developing Your Success Map centers on one powerful idea:

Ask kids what matters to them.

Not what matters to you.

We talked about:

• Purpose

• Dreams

• Monthly and daily goals

• Asking questions instead of lecturing

You don't build resilience by talking at kids.

You build it by engaging them.

You can recruit talent.

Or you can develop it.

You can chase wins.

Or you can build people.

The scoreboard isn't the ultimate measure.

Character is.

• GaryThrapp.com

• BeyondTheBaseline.net

• The Wild World of Youth Sports (Available on Amazon)

  9a8ef877-a0eb-478f-9c46-23d2842…

• Leading Winning Teams (Trent M. Clark)

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@leadershipity
🎙 Podcast Page: https://podcast.winnersfindaway.us/podcast

And if you believe in building disciplined, resilient athletes — support the Olympic journey here: 👉 https://trent-clark.com/olympic--2026

If you care about your kids.
If you coach.
If you lead.

This one's for you.

Because winners don't drift.

Winners Find A Way.