Libsyn Directory

E275 | Setting Up Your Business for the Future of AI and Leaner Teams

Release Date: 04/07/2026

E302 | Three Things to Consider for Business Growth in the New Year

Scale Differently

What will make the biggest difference in how your business grows next year? When you're setting big goals for your business, it's natural to start looking for the strategies and changes that will help you achieve them. But reaching those goals involves a lot of interconnected things within your business, and some of the biggest influences on your results may be things you haven't thought about yet. In this week's episode of Scale Differently, I'm sharing three things to consider as you plan for the new year, including: Why the most obvious solution isn't always the one you need How small...

E301 | Recognizing and Overcoming Resistance to Changes Needed to Scale

Scale Differently

Why do we often resist the changes we know we need to make in our business? Despite wanting something different, most people naturally gravitate towards what feels familiar and known. And that can become a challenge when you have a big vision and goals that require you to be thinking, leading, operating, and scaling differently. In this week’s episode of Scale Differently, I dig into how to get past any resistance to change so there is nothing standing between you and your vision, including: Why knowing what needs to change isn’t always enough Where resistance often shows up as you...

E300 | Reimagine and Scale Your Business for What’s Next

Scale Differently

Do you ever feel like you’re revisiting the same things in your business over and over again? You evolve an offer, rethink your team, update a system, or make changes to your business model, only to find yourself doing it again. As you scale, there are very few things in your business that are static or "done". They continue to evolve as the business grows and what you want changes. And every time you enter into a cycle of revisiting and evolving your business, you're doing it from a new vantage point and entering what I think of as the 'scaling spiral'. For this week’s 300th...

E299 | The Overlooked Root Cause of Feeling Misalignment in Your Business

Scale Differently

What causes something in your business to start feeling disconnected from what you really want? There are a lot of things that can contribute to that feeling, but there’s one common root cause I see underneath it again and again. And it’s something that can happen so gradually that you may not even realize how much it has changed the way you run, lead, grow, and scale your business. Maybe you adjusted an offer because of what a specific client needed and years later you’re still delivering it that way. Maybe you structured your schedule around a particular team member or season in...

E298 | The Sacred Yes Framework for More Aligned Marketing and Sales

Scale Differently

What if your marketing and sales process felt as aligned as the work you deliver? So many of the tactics that have become standard practice are built around pressure, urgency, and getting someone to make a decision as quickly as possible. But if you care deeply about the transformation someone experiences once they become a client, the way they arrive at that decision matters too. Your marketing and sales process can reflect how you want to do business, how you want people to experience your work, and the kind of relationship you want to create from the very beginning. That’s what I...

E297 | When Your Business Outgrows the Way You Run It with Heather Roberts

Scale Differently

Is your business still dependent on you in ways it may have already outgrown? What your business requires from you at seven figures can be very different from what it required from you at $100K. Every stage of business comes with a different set of needs, but it’s easy to keep making the decisions, solving the problems, and filling the gaps you’ve always handled, even when your team can take more ownership and figure things out without you. In this week’s episode of Scale Differently, I sit down with Heather Roberts, who has scaled multiple businesses past seven figures and learned...

E296 | Reimagining How You Scale to Align With Who You Are Now

Scale Differently

If you were reimagining your business today, knowing everything you know now, would you make the same choices? Would you sell the same things? Structure your team the same way? Spend your own time the same way? Market, sell, and deliver the same way? So much of what exists in an established business is the result of decisions made at another point in time, based on what made sense then. But what if you gave yourself a clean blank slate and reimagined what you would choose today, based on what you want now and what you can see becoming possible in the future? That's what I explore in this...

E295 | Creating Space for the Unexpected in Business

Scale Differently

Have you ever finally created some much-needed space in your business… only to immediately fill it right back up? Someone leaves your team, and you start looking for their replacement. An offer runs its course, and you start figuring out what you’ll sell next. You delegate something that gives you back 10 hours each week, and somehow those hours quickly get reallocated to something else... Sound familiar? As business owners, we’re naturally great at solving problems and moving things forward, so when something opens up, our instinct is usually to figure out what belongs there next. ...

E294 | Simplifying Business Growth with Celi Arias

Scale Differently

Is the part of your business you're giving the most attention to the part that will help your business grow? For Celi Arias, a scaling strategist and the founder of ScalePilot, the shifts she wanted to see in her business started happening when she realized that she'd spent more time giving attention to the parts of business she loved, but didn't give enough attention to the areas that determined whether the business could truly grow. Shifting her focus towards the things that really help a business grow has helped her change how she grows businesses today. In this week's episode of Scale...

E293 | It's Time to Scale Differently (The Evolution of Simplify to Scale)

Scale Differently

Is the way you're scaling your business still aligned with the vision you have for your business (and your life)? Over the past couple of years, I've watched so many business owners pause to reflect on whether their current business matches what they really want. Some are choosing to go deeper with a smaller group of clients, focusing on more connection and increased impact. While others are using tech and emerging opportunities to expand their vision in totally new directions. The one thing they all have in common is that everyone is looking for a way to expand their business in a way that...

More Episodes

How can AI truly fit into your business? Do you know how to use AI agents effectively without losing your brand’s unique touch?

In this episode, together with Jessica Main, we dive deep into a practical conversation on how to make AI actually work for you.

We talk about why it’s essential to prepare your systems and define clear processes before bringing in AI agents. We also explore the idea of treating AI like a team member, one that needs proper onboarding, direction, and context to perform well.

You’ll hear practical insights on using AI in a focused way, avoiding generic content, and making sure it strengthens rather than weakens your brand. The goal is simple. Keep your business objectives front and center while using AI as a tool for meaningful growth.

If you want to stay ahead and build a brand people look up to, this episode is for you. Tune in to the full conversation and explore upcoming AI implementation labs, workshops, and scaling programs through the Strategic Ops Institute.

How can AI truly fit into your business? o you know how to use AI agents effectively without losing your brand’s unique touch?

In this episode, together with Jessica Main, we dive into a practical conversation on how to make AI actually work for you.

In this episode, we discuss:

Importance of clear systems before using AI
AI as team member, not replacement
Risk of "AI slop" in outputs
Need for brand-specific AI guidelines
Role success kits and onboarding clarity
Efficient, intentional AI integration strategies
Balancing human and AI contributions

If you want to better understand how to strategically leverage AI in your business and how it realistically impacts your team and operating structure, especially as you step out of daily operations, join me on May 5th for a live and interactive workshop on preparing your business for the future of AI. Register at leanscaling.com/ceo-workshop

Founders: Are you ready to get out of the day-to-day operations of your business?

Start by joining me inside our next Scale Simpler workshop, where I help you discover the hidden factors keeping you stuck in the day-to-day.

Then join me in Extraction, where we'll spend 4 weeks together developing your founder extraction roadmap to help you finally get out of the day-to-day of the business without things falling apart.

Register for Scale Simpler at https://www.leanscaling.com/scaleworkshop and Extraction at https://www.leanscaling.com/extraction

Fractionals & Consultants: Ready to become the strategic partner that small businesses can't imagine scaling without?

Apply for our Chief Strategy and Operating Officer (CSOO) certification and become licensed to leverage our Lean Scaling System™ to simplify how you scale your clients' businesses (and your own) and step into the role founders are increasingly searching for.

Learn more at https://www.strategicopsinstitute.com/certification

Fractionals, Consultants, & Leaders: Ready to deepen your strategic leadership skills and differentiate your services to stand out in a crowded market?

Join our SOL Collective community, THE private space centered on strategic leadership, AI enablement, and defining your signature positioning for those who partner with small to mid-sized businesses.

Learn more at https://www.strategicopsinstitute.com/collective

Have questions? Want to explore partnering together to scale your business? Connect with me on my personal Instagram @cristagrasso or LinkedIn and let’s start a conversation.

If you loved this episode, please help us spread the word and reach more business owners like you by leaving a 5-star rating and review. Hit subscribe to be the ﬁrst to listen to new episodes each Tuesday.

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