Stories of the follow-up behind the follow-through. Hosted by Manny Vargas, That Follow-Up Guy, this podcast explores the unseen disciplines that separate those who start from those who finish. Each episode dives into the mindset, habits, and relentless follow-up that fuels real follow-through, the kind that shows up when it matters most. We sit down with entrepreneurs, leaders, and public figures who don't just talk about growth, they live it.
Plant the Seed, Play the Long Game | Keith Baulsir
Keith Baulsir sent a single image, a mockup of a company's name on a building, to someone who had told him no years before. No lengthy pitch. No follow-up sequence. Just the right idea at the right moment, delivered to someone he had never stopped believing in. That one follow-up turned into a tens of millions of dollars naming rights deal. That's what playing the long game actually looks like.
A 19-year sports sales veteran who helped launch the Vegas Golden Knights as one of their earliest employees, Keith has closed hundreds of millions in partnerships revenue across pro sports, college athletics, minor leagues, and even a nonprofit zoo. He's now building Clemson Ventures, a first of its kind in-house sports marketing group at one of the most storied programs in college athletics, in full startup mode all over again.
He opens up about the difference between spraying and praying versus the sniper approach, why internal follow up breaks down between sales and service teams in almost every organization, and the evolution from commission breath to an abundance mindset that took nearly two decades to fully develop. He also gets honest about the moments he gave up too early, the long game philosophy that has defined his career, and why visibility is the single most underrated form of accountability in any sales organization.
Whether you're a young seller grinding through entry level or a seasoned pro leading a team, this conversation will sharpen how you think about the follow-up game.
In this episode you will:
Understand why your reputation is literally built by your repetition and what that means for how you show up daily
Learn the shift from shotgun to sniper outreach - doing less but converting more
Discover why most sellers quit before touchpoint 10 and what it takes to stay in it long enough to win
Recognize how to close the loop on every deal - whether you win it or lose it, in a way that plants seeds for years down the road
Apply Keith's long game framework to both startup environments and established organizations
🔔 Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
Follow Keith (https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithcbaulsir)
Keith's Book
Get more from Manny!
Get my book, The Follow Up Paradox!
Get my planner, That Follow Up Sales Planner! (https://a.co/d/0gAPVVhE)
YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@ThatFollowUpGuy)
Instagram
Book Manny to Speak (https://thatfollowupguy.com/)
10 Mar 2026
Following Through on Your Purpose | Shab Azma
Shab Azma walked into a four-hour plant medicine journey feeling spiritually bankrupt, directionless, and gutted from losing her biggest client. She walked out with a business plan.
The founder of Arc Collective, a women led entertainment management company representing some of the most mission driven talent in the industry, Shab has spent 25 years in entertainment building relationships, managing careers, and quietly becoming one of the most connected people in the business. But it wasn't until she hit rock bottom, losing a client she had poured five years into, questioning everything about her purpose when the real work began.
She opens up about leaving a 10-year partnership that had made her feel transactional and hollow, building Arc from scratch during a pandemic with three women who took the leap alongside her, and the moment she sat across from one of the biggest management companies in the business and heard the words "I want to buy your company" four years in. She talks about almost saying yes. And why she didn't.
Whether you're an entrepreneur who can't stop doing everything yourself, a leader trying to reconcile who you've been with who you need to become, or someone standing at the edge of a decision that scares you, this conversation will remind you that the follow-through starts on the inside.
In this episode you will:
Understand why the gap between a powerful experience and real execution requires community, support, and integration, not just inspiration
Learn how to identify what only you can do and why everything else is costing you more than you think
Discover what chasing really signals about where you are energetically and professionally
Recognize the difference between following through on everything and following through on the right things
Apply Shab's framework for using fear and ego as a barometer for every major decision you face
🔔 Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
Follow Shab (https://www.instagram.com/shabsmeltzer/?hl=en)
Arc Collective (https://www.arccltv.com/)
Get more from Manny!
Get my book, The Follow Up Paradox!
Get my planner, That Follow Up Sales Planner! (https://a.co/d/0gAPVVhE)
YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@ThatFollowUpGuy)
Instagram
Book Manny to Speak (https://thatfollowupguy.com/)
3 Mar 2026
The Last Job I'll Ever Take | Ronn Nicolli
Ronn Nicolli sat in a nearly empty Wynn on Christmas night in 2005 no retail open, barely a soul on the casino floor and watched that same property become so packed 20 years later that his family stood in line 45 minutes for an ice cream cone. That contrast, he says, is the entire lesson of what brand integrity, follow-through, and knowing who you are can build over time.
The CMO and Chief Experience Officer of the Meruelo Group, overseeing the Sahara Las Vegas, Grand Sierra Resort, three radio stations, two Latin TV networks, and a portfolio of businesses that spans well beyond hospitality, Ronn has spent 25 years climbing from a college grad passing out flyers on the Las Vegas Strip to one of the most respected marketing executives in the city. But the real story isn't the title. It's every decision he made along the way to earn the right to be in the room.
He opens up about leaving Resort World after six years when he had planned on ten, the moment he realized staying too long in the wrong fit is just as damaging as quitting too early, and why his new role at the Meruelo Group was the only offer compelling enough to make him say yes. He also gets honest about envy, resentment, and the self-reflection it took to finally put those things down and what it felt like to feel alive in his career again.
Whether you're a marketer trying to get your ideas off the whiteboard, a leader figuring out how to build a culture people don't want to leave, or someone standing at a crossroads deciding if it's time to make a move, this conversation will hit different.
In this episode you will:
Understand why the gap between a good marketer and a great one comes down to operationalizing ideas, not just having them
Learn how to walk into any executive meeting having already anticipated the rebuttal
Discover why "no" takes zero effort and what it costs you every time you take the easy way out
Recognize the difference between people who aren't growing and people who are genuinely happy — and why mistaking one for the other is a leadership trap
Apply Ronn's framework for knowing when a fit has run its course before it starts costing you everything
🔔 Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
Follow Ronn (https://www.instagram.com/yvessaintlaronn/?hl=en)
Meruelo Group (https://meruelogroup.com/)
Sahara Las Vegas (https://www.saharalasvegas.com/)
Grand Sierra Resort (https://www.grandsierraresort.com/)
Get more from Manny!
Get my book, The Follow Up Paradox!
Get my planner, That Follow Up Sales Planner! (https://a.co/d/0gAPVVhE)
YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@ThatFollowUpGuy)
Instagram
Book Manny to Speak (https://thatfollowupguy.com/)
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Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
21 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
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