Create the Future

About Create the Future

The Create the Future Podcast™ is hosted by Rick Williams, keynote speaker and author of Create the Future – your essential leadership guidebook for making difficult decisions. The Create the Future Podcast is a community forum for leaders to share their stories about making difficult choices in an engaging and entertaining way so others will learn from their experiences. When you listen to the Create the Future Podcast, you will learn how to be a more successful leader who makes the difficult decisions. You will hear how inspiring leaders have faced similar challenges. You will hear about courage, fear, determination, and hope. Executives, entrepreneurs, aspiring leaders, board members, nonprofit leaders, public-sector leaders, and mission-driven professionals share their stories about leadership challenges and making tough choices that shaped the future of their organization and their own careers. If you have a compelling story to tell about making a tough call for your company, or any organization – what went right, what went wrong, and lessons learned – share your story with the Create the Future Podcast audience. Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply at https://podcast.rickwilliamsleadership.com/podcast-guest.

Publisher

Rick Williams

Category

business · education · news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

2 Dec 2025

Latest episode

1 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 44 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   1 Nov 2026

   Ep#30 - The Unpopular Hiring Decision That Changed Dan Rochon’s Team | Dan Rochon - Author & Realtor | Rick Williams

   What if the hardest leadership decisions became easier because you made them before you were under pressure to decide? In this episode of Create the Future Podcast with Rick Williams, Dan Rochon—author, keynote speaker, and real estate entrepreneur—shares how an unpopular decision about building his team led him to rethink the way he hires, leads, and allocates resources. Dan’s approach is built around a concept he calls the “pre-decision compass”: deciding in advance which values and principles will guide you when difficult choices arise. Instead of wrestling with the same dilemma every time, leaders can establish clear standards before emotions, competing demands, or personal loyalties complicate the decision. Drawing on his experience leading a real estate brokerage with approximately 150 agents, Dan explains why he committed to putting what is best for the group ahead of what is best for one individual. That principle helped him navigate competing requests for time, money, and resources—and make choices that serve the organization as a whole. Dan and Rick explore what this means for leaders who must make difficult people decisions, build high-performing teams, and create a culture where expectations are clear. They also discuss how Dan is applying these principles today, including using AI to support hiring decisions. By defining the behaviors and qualities needed for a role before interviewing candidates, he aims to make more consistent, evidence-informed decisions about who is likely to succeed. 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄, 𝐘𝐎𝐔’𝐋𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑: 👉 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞-𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬: How to establish your decision-making principles before a difficult choice lands on your desk. 👉 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥: Why what seems best for one person may not be best for the organization. 👉 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: How clarity about your values, beliefs, and expectations can guide consequential leadership decisions. 👉 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬: Why defining the behaviors you need before interviewing candidates can improve your selection process. 👉 𝐀𝐈 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: How Dan uses AI to help evaluate candidates against role-specific expectations. 👉 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲: How leaders can define their responsibilities, empower others, and stop becoming the bottleneck for every decision. 👉 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬: Why peer groups, experienced advisors, and even an imagined “board of directors” can help you see decisions from new perspectives. 𝐀 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒 What decision do you keep having to make again and again? What principle could you establish today to make that decision clearer the next time it arises? Your answers may reveal an opportunity to lead with greater consistency, build a stronger team, and focus your energy where it matters most. If you lead a team, own a business, or are preparing for a greater leadership role, this conversation offers a practical way to connect your values to the decisions that shape your organization. ------------------------------- 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐍 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐍: Dan Rochon is a keynote speaker, author of Teach to Sell: Why Top Salespeople Never Sell—and What They Do Instead, and an experienced real estate entrepreneur. His work focuses on helping business owners and sales professionals build trust, guide better conversations, and create more consistent business results without relying on high-pressure selling. Learn more about Dan and his work: Website: https://teachtosellbook.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danrochon 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐌𝐒 & 𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐓: Rick Williams is the host of Create the Future Podcast with Rick Williams, a podcast exploring the consequential decisions that shape leaders, teams, organizations, and careers. Each episode features candid conversations with experienced leaders about the difficult choices they have faced, how they approached them, and what others can learn from their experiences. The goal is to help current and aspiring leaders make better decisions and create a more intentional future. Learn more: https://www.RickWilliamsLeadership.com Subscribe to Create the Future Podcast with Rick Williams for more conversations on leadership, decision-making, organizational culture, and creating meaningful impact.

2. 

   18 Oct 2026

   Ep#29 - How to Reinvent a Business When Your Original Model Disappears | Sam Eitzen, CEO & Co-Founder Snapbar | Rick Williams

   What if building a bigger business isn't the same as building a better one? Sam Eitzen, CEO and Co-founder of Snapbar, knows what it means to make difficult decisions when the future of a company is at stake. Sam and his brother started Snapbar in 2012, building a photo-booth business that grew into a multi-location operation with 45 employees. Then COVID-19 shut down in-person events almost overnight. Revenue disappeared, customers needed refunds, and the company faced an urgent question: how could it survive when its core business had effectively stopped? Sam and his team didn't make just one pivot. They experimented with a corporate gifting business supporting small businesses, developed virtual photo-booth software, and eventually moved further into software and AI-powered photo and video experiences. But one of the most important decisions came later. As Snapbar evolved, Sam and his brother had to decide whether to return to their original business model or commit to a different future. That meant selling off their physical equipment, closing the door on the old model, and accepting the uncertainty of building something new. It also led Sam to question a common assumption in entrepreneurship: that success always means growing bigger, hiring more people, and pursuing the largest possible business. In this episode of Create the Future Podcast with Rick Williams, Sam shares the difficult decisions that helped reshape Snapbar—and the lessons he learned about leadership, business pivots, risk, and defining success on your own terms. 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐋𝐋 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐍 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄: 👉 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬: How to recognize when your existing business model may no longer be viable. 👉 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞: What happens when revenue disappears and the clock is ticking. 👉 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐩𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: How Sam and his brother made the deliberate choice to sell their equipment and avoid falling back into their old business. 👉 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: Why not every pivot works—and how testing ideas can help reveal a better path forward. 👉 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: How listening to customers helped Snapbar identify new opportunities. 👉 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞: Why a larger company isn't automatically a better company for its founder. 👉 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫: Sam explains why he thrives in the early stages of building something new and why scaling a business can require a different skill set. 👉 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬: Why founders should think carefully about the kind of company—and life—they actually want to create. 👉 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲: How Snapbar evolved from physical photo booths to software and AI-powered experiences. If you're a CEO, entrepreneur, business owner, or executive facing a major strategic decision, this conversation offers practical insights into navigating uncertainty, reinventing a business, and deciding what success should look like for you. Because sometimes the most important leadership decision isn't how to grow bigger—it's deciding what kind of business is worth building. ------------------------- 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐒𝐀𝐌 𝐄𝐈𝐓𝐙𝐄𝐍: Sam Eitzen is the CEO and co-founder of Snapbar, an experiential marketing technology company he started with his brother in 2012. Snapbar began with photo booths for weddings and events before expanding into corporate experiences. When the pandemic disrupted in-person gatherings, Sam and his team reinvented the business through corporate gifting, virtual photo-booth software, and eventually AI-powered photo and video experiences. Today, Snapbar develops technology that helps brands create interactive experiences for audiences at events and marketing activations. Sam's entrepreneurial journey offers lessons in business model innovation, resilience, customer discovery, strategic pivots, and the importance of understanding what kind of company you truly want to build. Learn more about Snapbar: https://snapbar.com/about Connect with Sam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-eitzen 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐌𝐒 & 𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐓: Rick Williams hosts Create the Future Podcast, a podcast exploring the difficult decisions that shape organizations, careers, and lives. Through conversations with experienced leaders, Rick examines what made their decisions challenging, how they evaluated their options, what worked, what didn't, and what other leaders can learn from their experiences. The goal is to help leaders make better decisions today so they can create a better future tomorrow. Learn more about Rick Williams: https://www.RickWilliamsLeadership.com Subscribe to Create the Future Podcast with Rick Williams for more conversations about leadership, decision-making, business strategy, and the choices that shape the future.

3. 

   27 Sept 2026

   Ep#28 - Leaving the C-Suite: Choosing Impact Over Corporate Identity | Joe Patneaude, Founder & Executive Coach

   What happens when the career you spent 25 years building no longer feels like the future you want? For Joe Patneaude, the answer required one of the hardest leadership decisions of his career: stepping away from the corporate world after decades in financial services, including senior C-suite leadership roles, and redefining what success and identity meant to him. Joe began his career in the mailroom of a mutual fund company and worked his way into senior leadership, eventually serving in roles including Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer. Along the way, he also built financial practices, an insurance agency, an adult education business, and other ventures. But eventually, something changed. Joe realized that what energized him most throughout his career wasn't the title, the paycheck, or even the business itself. It was helping other people learn, grow, and become more successful. The difficult part was recognizing that the corporate identity he had built over 25 years had become part of how he defined himself. 𝐒𝐨 𝐉𝐨𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: 👉What do I actually want from the next 20–25 years of my career? 👉What are my values? 👉What does success really look like? 👉And who am I if I no longer have the C-suite title? In this episode of Create the Future with Rick Williams, Joe and Rick explore the leadership decision to leave corporate life and build a career around broader impact. 𝐉𝐨𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞: 👉 Went from the mailroom to the C-suite in financial services 👉 Recognized that his corporate career was no longer aligned with his personal values 👉 Faced the fear of giving up financial stability and professional identity 👉 Evaluated the financial and practical risks of leaving corporate employment 👉 Learned that sometimes the hardest part of a major decision isn't the financial risk—it's letting go of who you have been 👉 Discovered that his greatest motivation was helping other leaders grow 👉 Reframed success around impact rather than title 👉 Uses regular values assessments to make sure his work continues to align with what matters most 👉 Encourages leaders to distinguish between simply inflating a business and creating sustainable growth 👉 Talks about delegation, structure, values, leadership development, and creating organizations that don't depend entirely on the leader One of the most powerful ideas in this conversation is that a career decision isn't always about choosing between two jobs. Sometimes, it's about deciding who you want to become next. ------------------------ 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐉𝐎𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐍𝐄𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐄: Joe Patneaude is a Certified Financial Educator (CFEd®), Certified Executive Coach and Mentor (CECM), and founder of JP Coaching. After approximately 25 years in financial services—including a journey from the mailroom to C-suite leadership—Joe now works with business owners and leaders to help them achieve meaningful, sustainable growth. His work includes executive coaching, leadership development, delegation, team development, operational improvement, and business scalability. His STAR Scalability℠ Method focuses on Strategy, Team, Assets, and Rewards, with an emphasis on building stronger teams, creating effective systems, and scaling without burnout. Joe's LinkedIn profile describes his focus as helping financial practice leaders “scale without losing what matters.” Learn more about Joe and JP Coaching: https://jpcoachingnow.com/ 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐌𝐒 & 𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐓: Rick Williams is the host of Create the Future Podcast with Rick Williams, a podcast focused on leadership, decision-making, and the difficult choices that shape organizations, careers, and lives. Each episode explores the real-world decisions leaders have faced—what made the decision difficult, how they evaluated the risks and opportunities, what they learned, and what other leaders can take away from the experience. The goal is simple: help leaders make better decisions today so they can create a better future tomorrow. Rick Williams is also an author and speaker focused on leadership and decision-making. Learn more about Rick Williams and Create the Future Podcast: https://rickwilliamsleadership.com/ Subscribe to Create the Future with Rick Williams for more conversations about leadership, difficult decisions, business growth, and the choices that shape the future.

Inside a recent episode

8 - Integrity in Leadership: Turning Downsizing into a Trust-Building Opportunity with Jim Carlough

Published 19 Mar 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] I have asked myself that question every night since 1983. And that level of integrity and transparency has guided my life. With that, as a backdrop, my teams trust me. That's why my attrition, voluntary attrition rate historically is below 5%. They know I'm transparent. They know I have their back. […]

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