Raising Salaries Won’t Fix Your Turnover Problem
I’ve seen companies with sky-high churn, and others paying exactly the same where employees stick around for years.
Both assume that’s just how it is. The struggling ones blame it on the salary, saying they can’t pay enough.
Here’s what I believe: turnover is rarely about the paycheck. It’s almost always about purpose.
When we get a new inquiry and see people leaving in waves, that’s not a pay problem. That’s a culture problem hiding in plain sight.
Often these companies pay well, yet people still leave. Meanwhile, the businesses with the lowest churn have something different in common: their people know why they’re there, because they feel part of something that matters.
I don’t believe people leave companies. They leave bosses and organizations that fail to give their work meaning.
If you want people to stay, you don’t need free kombucha or another salary bump. You need to lead with purpose. And sometimes, the smallest gestures mean the most:
• A thank you when it counts
• A birthday remembered
• A dinner where work doesn’t come up
Before you raise another salary, ask yourself: does each and every team member know why they’re here?
-
Entrepreneurship, Focus, and Freedom Over Coffee
Entrepreneurship, Focus, and Freedom Over Coffee
Had such a great breakfast in Puerto Rico with Todd Smart from EO Puerto Rico ☕️🌴
One thing I always appreciate about Puerto Rico is how connected and genuinely amazing the people are, whether they’re from the island or chose to make it home. There’s always so much depth, perspective, and real connection in the conversations here.
Todd and I shared stories about entrepreneurship, and he told me more about Blom Growth, how their coaches and software are helping businesses scale at unprecedented speed and with more freedom. He also shared insights from his book Flourish, which is all about transforming your business through focus, freedom, and fun, three things every entrepreneur could use more of 📘✨
Thank you for the inspiring breakfast, Todd. Grateful for conversations like this and the community that makes them possible 🙏
-
Depth, Presence, and Real Curiosity
Why Hiring Often Makes Things Worse
I used to think hiring would fix the pressure.
More hands.
More help.
Less on my plate.
But here’s the truth most founders learn the hard way:
Hiring doesn’t solve chaos.
It multiplies it.
When there’s no clarity, no process, no definition of success, every new hire just adds more decisions, more questions, and more stress.
Staffing done right isn’t about filling seats.
It’s about removing weight.
Real staffing looks like this:
• A role is designed before someone is hired
• Outcomes are clear, not assumed
• Context lives in systems, not in Slack messages
• A new hire creates relief, not more work
If onboarding feels heavier than before, that’s not a people problem.
That’s a design problem.
The goal of staffing isn’t to make you the manager of more people.
It’s to make your business less dependent on you.
When you hire with intention, structure, and clarity, something powerful happens:
You stop being the glue.
Your team starts owning the work.
And your business finally has room to scale.
Hiring shouldn’t feel like a gamble.
It should feel like relief.
If your last hire added stress instead of removing it, what do you think was missing? -
The Real Cost of Hiring Cheap
“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.”
—Red Adair
Every time I see this quote, I’m reminded of how true it is in hiring. The cheapest option almost always turns out to be the most expensive.
Expertise saves you money, time, and headaches, always. The hard lesson is this: what looks like a good deal usually isn’t.
Quality has its price.
