Smashing the Plateau

About Smashing the Plateau

Smashing the Plateau features candid conversations with experienced professionals who are building businesses around their expertise and creating greater control over their work and their lives. Many of our guests are corporate refugees who transitioned from employment to entrepreneurship, often continuing to build on the expertise and experience they developed over many years in their field. Others have spent years building independent practices and are continuing to make decisions about how they want their businesses, and their lives, to evolve. Each conversation explores the decisions that shape an independent business. Guests share what they have learned about positioning, growth, marketing, clients, focus, money, relationships, and the many other choices that come with building something of your own. But experience doesn't make every decision easier. Inside organizations, important decisions rarely happen entirely alone. Colleagues test assumptions, provide context, share experience, and help us see situations from different perspectives. When you become independent, much of that support disappears. That's why collective intelligence matters. Through hundreds of conversations with experienced professionals, we've seen how collective intelligence can strengthen our thinking when trusted people ask good questions, challenge assumptions, share different perspectives, and help us see what we might miss on our own. What you'll find on Smashing the Plateau: • Candid stories from experienced professionals building businesses around their expertise • Practical insights drawn from real business decisions and experiences • Different perspectives on the choices independent professionals face • Ideas that can help you reflect more deeply and make better decisions • Conversations about community, trusted relationships, and the value of thinking with others If you're building a business around your expertise and want greater control over your work and your life, Smashing the Plateau offers ideas, experiences, and perspectives to help you think more clearly about the decisions that matter. Take the next step: Better decisions begin with seeing your situation more clearly. Get the free SMASH System™ Self-Assessment at https://SmashingThePlateau.com/clarity.

Publisher

Smashing the Plateau

Category

business · business · education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

27 Apr 2020

Latest episode

26 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

141 of 340 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   26 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   When the Next Job Isn't the Answer — Janylene Turcotte

   Host David interviews Janylene Turcotte, a Hypnocoach founder and former HR executive, about navigating career transitions and rebuilding identity after significant professional change.

2. 

   19 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   When Your Community No Longer Fits — Anita Sandoval

   Host David interviews Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor Anita Sandoval about navigating the loneliness and self-doubt of outgrowing communities to find authentic connection and build an independent practice.

3. 

   12 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Looking Closely at What Drives You — James Hayden

   Host interviews fractional CRO and go-to-market strategist James Hayden about overcoming career plateaus through vulnerability and fixing foundational sales processes.

Inside a recent episode

When the Next Job Isn't the Answer — Janylene Turcotte

Published 26 Oct 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] This is how it became clear to me. Yeah. And once you made that decision, how long did it take until you felt like you had reached some kind of level of stability? Not that long. It's very interesting. I would say a year. Right. So I like to say I lost my job at 47. I became sober at 49 and I started my business at 51. So that's pretty much, you know, the timeline. And there was a you know, there was it was more the passion. It was like I was I had this consultant job that I took, you know, as a normal person. a normal kind of pivot role you're consulting. So I did some consultation and I said to myself, okay, I need to start this business fast and furious because when my employer is going to find out that I have this business, they're going to want me to shut it down. […]

Who has been a guest on Smashing the Plateau

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Janylène Turcotte
• Anita Sandoval
• James Hayden
• Tamsin Astor
• Steve Guberman

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

79,435

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

161 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 81 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

92

Social presence

0

YouTube

85

Engagement

92

Contact Smashing the Plateau

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Smashing the Plateau