Unlocking Growth: The Journey of Business RadioX® Toward 100 Certified Partners

Intro: Broadcasting live from our flagship studio in Atlanta, Georgia. This is Scaling in Public, the Next 100 Business RadioX Markets, featuring founders Lee Kantor and Stone Payton, along with some of America’s top coaches, helping them grow the network with real strategy, real lessons, and real accountability all shared in public. To learn more about the proven system that turns podcast interviews into a perpetual prospecting pipeline through generosity, not gimmicks, go to brxhq.com and download the free Business RadioX playbook. Now here’s your host.

Stone Payton: Welcome to Scaling in Public, where Lee and Stone get some real world, real time advice on taking our growth and impact to the next level. Today’s coach, Trisha Stetzel.

Trisha Stetzel: Thank you. Uh, all right, so you guys, I’m your host and also the master coach for this project. Over the next several weeks, we’re going to be following Business RadioX founders, Lee Kantor and Stone Payton as they open up their playbook, get coached live, and share what they’re learning as they grow this network towards its next 100 markets. So this first episode or coaching session, if you will, we’re going to call the discovery call, where we get clarity on where BR stands today, where it’s headed, and what gaps will work to close together in this session. All right, Lee and Stone, are you guys ready?

Lee Kantor: Ready.

Stone Payton: Ready.

Trisha Stetzel: So, Lee, let’s start with you. You’ve been building Business RadioX for nearly two decades. Tell us more About your journey and what inspired you to share this next chapter publicly? To let people watch as you grow?

Lee Kantor: Well, um, the part of the reason why I’d like to share publicly is kind of the frustration on not growing as quickly as I would like. Um, we’ve been doing this, like you said, for 20 years, uh, based here in Atlanta, Georgia, have a lot of people in the metro Atlanta area who have are joining us as partners and have studios in and around kind of the mothership, but we haven’t been able to get traction to grow this and attract folks from around the country. And I think that’s where a great opportunity is. And it’s frustrating for me to not have figured out how to scale this beyond kind of the metro Atlanta area. So that is kind of at the heart of why I would like to try this as a tactic to grow it. And, um, one of our kind of core values of Business RadioX is extreme generosity, so I thought it would be extremely generous to share this journey with others who also may be struggling with scaling, and to get feedback from expert coaches in their, um, kind of niches so they can share their expertise. They can, um, people can learn more about them and see them in action. And it would create a win, win, win all the way around.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, I love that. So we’re not going to go into this in any of the other coaching sessions. But I think it would be really important for this very first conversation that we have. Give us a little bit of background on Business RadioX and why you started it in the first place.

Lee Kantor: Um, well, I was kind of an early adopter in podcasting, and I had a podcast at the very beginning when I, Apple was putting starting podcasting and people didn’t know what a podcast was, and they thought they needed an iPod to have a podcast or listen to a podcast. And it was very it was very new and I’m very attracted to kind of new technology, and I tend to be an early adopter and a lot of different things. So, um, I had a show called Doctor Fitness and The Fat Guy, and we were podcasting it, and it got a lot of attention, and it helped position my business partner at the time, Adam Shaffer, and he’s a chiropractor, and he became Doctor Fitness, and he really became Doctor Fitness. It was a brand. People recognized him as Doctor Fitness. We were invited to speak at places celebrities would contact us to be on our show. Um, he was able to get a job as a chiropractor in another state because he was Doctor Fitness. From that, he got to be on local TV as Doctor Fitness, and he’s built a successful chiropractic practice as using Doctor Fitness, kind of as the catalyst behind that. And so I saw the power of this medium, but I saw it being used in a business way and not, um, after him, not a way as most people are using it now.

Lee Kantor: So the the epiphany happened during that process of when I realized that you can invite anybody you want as a guest. That to me was kind of game changer because my background is in advertising, and I know the first conversation in business is the hardest, and this was a vehicle to have really good first conversations with the people most important to you. And that epiphany was at the crux of what Business RadioX became. And that’s what we started doing, is just seeing how we can kind of utilize that ability is to make somebody into a media property and create a show about their best prospects, and that helped them grow their influence and their accessibility to the people most important to them as being a show host or a place where those stories are told about the niche that they’re in. So they became famous in that little niche. And that’s really all they cared about because they didn’t want to reach the masses. They wanted to reach just a handful of people who could move the needle in their business. And by making them the host of a show about that specific niche was a game changer for them. And then that’s how everything kind of built from there.

Trisha Stetzel: It’s such an amazing story, and I appreciate you taking us back a little ways. So Stone, I’m coming to you. You’ve been a part of this journey from the early days. Why does the idea of scaling in public feel right for Business RadioX now?

Stone Payton: I just really want to share the the joy and the financial opportunity that’s available from utilizing this to grow your existing business and being part of the Business RadioX system and bringing that to end user clients. It’s a lot of fun, and it really does put you in a position to genuinely help other people. And my entire career, from the day that I jumped on Lee’s coattails, I have learned that the more people you help, the more money you make, and the more money you make, the more people you can help. And that’s just a flywheel that once you get it going, you couldn’t stop it if you wanted to. I have a degree of frustration as well, because 20 years ago, once I figured out how Lee was making money and how he was helping people in other communities, I promised him. I told him, I can help you grow this thing. We’ve had some success. We’ve both made a very comfortable living, but we have not grown it anywhere near to the extent or at the pace that that we both thought we would. And candidly, I kind of promised him that I would help him do so. This is, I’m highly motivated to crack the code on this one and get it figured out.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that, and I am sure that Lee was not carrying you on his coattails all this time. I’m just saying. Uh, so the whole idea of scaling in public, it’s not about perfection. It’s about progress in plain sight. It’s about letting people learn alongside of you as you build and find the right people to be a part of this opportunity. It’s amazing. All right, gentlemen, when you talk about learning in public or scaling in public, what does that look like for you both personally and as leaders of this network?

Lee Kantor: Well, for me, I think it’s important. I want the listener to see what a coaching call looks like. I want them to see and feel what that back and forth looks like. And that, like you said, it’s incremental and it’s small wins that compound over time. It’s not some oh, this is it. It’s the magic bullet. And problem solved. See you. You know I don’t need you anymore. Like, I want them to understand, um, that component of this. I think it’s important because people, uh, most people obviously don’t get coached. Um, and I think most people should be coached. So I think that there is going to be a lot of value of just kind of seeing behind the curtain of what a coaching call looks like and what incremental, um, wins can add up to over time.

Trisha Stetzel: So that Stone, how about you?

Stone Payton: Yeah. For me, uh, Lee is my transparency and vulnerability coach. Uh, neither come nearly as easy or as often to me as they do for Lee. Uh, I have been for the vast majority of my entire career, which started in training and consulting, uh, a pretty high performing individual contributor. But as a piece of that, I have naturally leaned into a little more posturing, a little more positioning, really studied language and presentation and sales mechanics. But every time that I follow Lee’s counsel and just make myself a little bit more vulnerable, a little more transparent in what I’m challenged with every time I’ve done that over the years, I have received tremendous counsel, great advice, and it’s made a real difference. And so when Lee came up with the idea to do this, and it was, Lee’s idea never even occurred to me, I said, yes, we we definitely want to do this. And my commitment, my growth opportunity, just personally, individually on this is to just get a lot better at just asking for the help, being just just as vulnerable as possible and completely honest about where I personally and where I think we are struggling and, um, ask for the help. And I think we’re going to get it based on some of the successes I’ve had in the past from following these coaching on this.

Trisha Stetzel: It’s fantastic. So Lee, congratulations for having a brilliant idea. I’m excited about this.

Lee Kantor: Well, this is the way I’m a big believer in experiments and this is an experiment, so I don’t know if it’s a brilliant idea yet. To me the proof will be in the proof. So, uh, I believe in taking chances, iterating and learning and everything’s going to be. To me, life isn’t about winning and losing. It’s about winning and learning. So we’re going to learn something. So I know at the minimum, we’re going to learn something at the end of this.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that. So this learning in public or scaling in public, let’s just call it the new currency of credibility, because I see people trust you more when they see you doing the work, not just talking about it. And I think that’s really important here. All right. Let’s dive into since we’re here in our first pseudo coaching session discovery and moving into coaching. Preparing for our first session. Let’s get clear on three things where where you are today, where you want to go and what’s in the way. Sound good? Sure. Okay, so let’s talk about where Business RadioX is today. Let’s tackle what’s working best right now and where you feel friction.

Lee Kantor: Um. All right. So, um, so I think we did this exercise yesterday. Um, there’s nine certified Business RadioX partners right now. That means there’s people, human beings out there, uh, using the Business RadioX methodology to serve their community and grow their business. Uh, the objective for this project is to get to 100 by the end of 2026. And then ultimately, my goal is to get to 1000 at some future point. Um, and my thinking about why a thousand is that there’s about 8500 chambers of commerce. I believe there should be a Business RadioX serving at least the top 10 to 15% of those, um, in markets around the country, because I think what we do at the heart of what we do is support and celebrate the the work of small to mid-sized businesses that get ignored by traditional media. And there’s a need for somebody to be that evangelist in those local markets to just share those stories. People have to understand the sacrifices that small to mid-size business owners are making. Somebody has to tell those stories. Somebody has to be that person if we want if we believe in the power of small business, and if we truly believe that they are the heart of the US economy and communities, which I do believe. So I think it’s imperative that we do that. And that’s really at the heart of the frustration son and I spoke about somebody has to do this work, and there’s only so much work we can do. We need help. So we need people out there that believe what we believe, that think, hey, business is important. Somebody’s got to tell the stories and encourage and help these people in local markets do the work that they’re doing.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. Stone, what are your thoughts?

Stone Payton: Um, so that is where we are. We did have this conversation the other day because three weeks ago, if someone would have asked me where we are, what’s the extent of the network, I would have told them, we have 19 physical studios and we’re in 61 markets, and we do a great deal of enterprise and association work regionally and nationally, which all of that is absolutely true. The 19 physical studios is almost true because some of the nine are working in other markets. We do have a presence in at least 61 markets. But again, I was always leaning more on my positioning and all that and wanted people to understand the extent of the network. But but Lee and I had this conversation back to my personal growth. We’ll make this show about me for a minute, but when we really counted the people who are full blown Business RadioX certified partners, uh, following our model or at least reasonably closely, we’ve got nine. Seven of them are in the metro Atlanta or Georgia area. Uh, two of them are further out west. We don’t have nearly enough people doing it. We are collaborating with probably more than the 19 that are, in some fashion, somehow helping us reach some other verticals or even some geos. Um, so that’s where we are from a numbers standpoint. And we definitely know, um, we, we want to be doing that all over the country. Another thing that would describe where we are, what we do for the end user client, what we do for the certified partners. What we do works. It always works. It never doesn’t work. So for me, it’s even more frustrating that if I can just figure out how to communicate it effectively, tighten our systems, at least in the early going, where they’ll just do it our way. Uh, then I just know we can have so much greater impact. And, um, so that’s that’s frustrating and exciting all in the same breath.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. And so I know, and what I’m hearing you say is that you’ve built something sustainable and respected that can be replicated. So the next step in scaling is making that happen without losing the heart of what makes Business RadioX special. I love that. Okay, let’s jump ahead. So that’s where we are. Let’s jump ahead to let’s just go to first quarter end of first quarter 2026. What does success look like for Business RadioX. And what does the next level of growth feel like? So Lee, coming to you?

Lee Kantor: Well, at the end of the first quarter, that means we’ll have done about a dozen of these episodes. Um, and then we’ll have interacted with a dozen coaches who have clients all over the country. Um, I mean, if we don’t have I hate to put numbers on things like this. Um, but there has to be some sense that this is resonating and that this is, um, kind of getting traction. So there has to be people in the pipeline that are saying that are raising their hand and say, I’d like to know more about being Business RadioX in my local market. I want to understand how Business RadioX is going to help me prospect and make more money for myself. I want to understand how Business RadioX is going to help me, um, be a mega connector in my local market. I want to understand more of the why and the what we do. Um, so if we’re not getting traction at the end of this 12 weeks, um, I’d be extremely disappointed. And I would really question whether we can pull it off. I mean, we’re getting to the point, you know, doing something for 20 years, um, and 20 years of evidence that, hey, maybe this isn’t something that is scalable. You know, it works well for Stone and I and works well for the, you know, nine other people or the seven other people that are doing this kind of work.

Lee Kantor: But maybe it isn’t an idea that is resonating with people enough that they’re, uh, want to, you know, invested in and do and do it. Um, you know, there has to be a moment where you say, you know, hey, this is what it is. The one of my favorite quotes, uh, is from, um, Bill Parcells that he said about, uh, his team. He goes, you are what your record says you are. So if after 20 years we have nine, that’s our record. I mean, that’s reality. I mean, I can’t, you know, I can say that I wish it was bigger and I can say that there’s a market for a thousand, but the results are the result. So at some point, you know, Steve and I are closer to the end of our career than the beginning. At some point we have to say, okay, this is what it is. And, um, you know, let’s just kind of ride this out and, and see what the next move is. But I’d be extremely disappointed if we don’t have traction at the end of these 12, you know, at the end of the first quarter. And it would really kind of make us reassess what how to move forward.

Trisha Stetzel: Sure. Absolutely. And by the way, as the coach today, I’m going to tell you we’re going to put numbers around these things. So I know you don’t want to put numbers out there, but we’re going to uh, and that gives us something to shoot for, right. That’ll be our next session. All right, Stone, what are your thoughts in this space?

Stone Payton: Um, so can you repeat that question?

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. No problem. Uh, jumping ahead to first quarter, what does success look like for Business RadioX?

Stone Payton: So I would echo what Lee said in terms of seeing some, um, some some traction. But if I try to do the math, you know, a fourth of the 100 is 25, I think it’s probably unrealistic to expect that we’d have 25 new certified partners in, in there serving new communities, but I’d like to see enough traction that suggest, okay, from those efforts of that first quarter, uh, we probably will get to 25. And I don’t know, maybe I would even be content, given our current track record, if I felt like I was having substantive conversations with people that I was at least, uh, feeling pretty confident that I was able to communicate with them, build relationship, and they genuinely understand how and why our methodology, our brand equity, our community of practice, all these things we have in our favor can both help them grow their existing business and give them additional revenue streams that are right and just and true and are going to make them that mega connector and, uh, and that it’s going to, you know, be a really fun and, uh, lucrative way to invest their energy. So I guess I’d be looking more for traction and, um, a little bit of a horizon that suggests to me, okay, this thing looks like it’s going to work, but I don’t. I think it’d be unrealistic to expect a quarter of the results in the first quarter. Is that make sense?

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. And I appreciate you weighing in. And so the the vision the long term vision is clear. You the two of you are looking for a nationwide network of local leaders telling positive business stories. That’s really powerful. And I know anybody who’s listening to this has something inside of them that wants to be a part of that. Uh, so thank you for sharing what that vision looks like. And we’ll take a deeper dive into the vision and the objectives next week in our session. All right. Here’s the hardest question of them all what’s standing between where you are today and those hundred certified partners, Lee in 2026?

Lee Kantor: I think the thing that’s standing in the way is that people don’t understand what we do and, um, and how we do it. I think it’s just lack of awareness. I think a lot of people think they know what we do, but they really don’t understand, um, kind of what we do. They’re they’re seeing it through a traditional media lens, and they’re not seeing it through the lens of how by by helping people become the media in their local market, their positioning in the local market, changes they like. Um, if you’re a coach in a local market and then you’re seen as a coach in the local market. If you’re a Business RadioX studio partner in a local market. Now you’re the media in that local market who also coaches. And when you’re the media, the media has some benefits and some access that a coach doesn’t have as a Business RadioX, um, media partner here or studio partner here in Atlanta, I get invited. I’m my office is in the Chamber of Commerce in my city. The Chamber of Commerce said, hey, Lee, we’d like you to be here. That would be good for us if you would be office here. I mean, I don’t know how many coaches get invited by their chamber of Commerce to office inside the Chamber of Commerce. And I would think that a lot of coaches would say, hey, you know what? If I have to offer somewhere, I think the Chamber of Commerce would be a good spot. Um, so people don’t understand the power of being the media. And in order to truly be the media in the local market. And this is something we teach. Um, you have to serve the local market. So if you’re there as a good corporate citizen in the local market, telling the stories in the local market, you’re going to get access to things that you wouldn’t normally get access to, and it’s a game changer. You’re seen differently now, and that’s going to help you grow your coaching practice and open up, like Stone said, lots of revenue streams you couldn’t even imagine as just being a coach.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. Lee. So Stone Lee mentioned there are a lot of misconceptions around, uh, what you guys are doing. Can you talk about those misconceptions?

Stone Payton: Yeah, well, I can I can tell you my mental image for this. I think if you talk to someone, even maybe even if they were a successful high school or college athlete, you know, most of them are mature enough to realize they’re probably not NBA material. Like, they don’t think they’re professional level basketball player, even though they may understand what basketball is. They may have a basketball goal in their backyard. But a lot of people not only think they understand what we do and how we’re trying to help people and how we make money. A lot of people, you know, a lot of people, their nephew has a podcast. They can go buy a microphone. Uh, I think they they don’t, uh, make the distinction. And we haven’t helped them make the distinction between having a podcast, recording some material, putting some thought leadership out there on the internet. The distinction between that and what Business RadioX does to amplify the voice of business. Build real relationships and make real money and help other people build relationships and make real money. I don’t think we’ve done a good job of making that distinction clear. And so I run into a lot of people during the sales process. But even in the onboarding process or bringing someone on that. A lot of them, honest to God, think they know more about helping people and making money with this platform than I do. And I guess it’s possible some of them do, but but most of them don’t. So I think there is there is a challenge there that’s very different from the old days, where all we had to do was help them understand the distinction between this and old school terrestrial radio. So I sense that as a challenge.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. And so as, as a coach, I see the gaps here being clarity in the message that’s going out there, the partner acquisition, and even helping them understand what this process gets them in return. Right. And that’s something that we’re going to work on as we move through the process together with all of the coaches. So, um, maybe a little more personal, but why does closing this gap, getting from where you are today with nine certified partners to 100, why does that matter to you personally.

Lee Kantor: For me, it’s, um. It’s simple, because I believe we figured something out that’s important. And, um, I think that the country needs a voice of business that people trust, and that’s reliable and that’s authentic. And that is just, um, supporting business. I think business is under siege and that there’s a negative stigma for business people. And I don’t think it’s it’s true. And I and I think it’s it’s critically important that we support and celebrate the work of local business people. They’re the heart of communities. This this is kind of the building blocks of the entire country. We can’t kind of, um, put just mom and pop business owners that are funding, you know, the churches and the schools and the baseball teams and, and all the local stuff that happens and lump them into these kind of, uh, mega. Business owners that, you know, take all the oxygen out of the room. Like most business people aren’t Elon Musk. But if you open up any media platform, Elon Musk is the only business person they talk about. So you’re not hearing the story of the mom and pop person that is, you know, making sure the food pantry is full.

Lee Kantor: Um, and without them, it wouldn’t be full. So these stories are critical and somebody has to tell them. And we want that somebody to be us. We’re in a good position to be that that organization that is telling these hyper local stories. We just have to find other people that kind of believe what we believe and get them on board and show them how they can individually benefit because we’re capitalists, that we’re we’re a for profit business. This isn’t a nonprofit, but we can show them how they can individually benefit, and their community is going to benefit by having them do this kind of work and that, um, it’s critically important. So that is why it’s important to get to 100. That’s why it’s important to get to 1000, because this work has to be done. This country needs somebody to take this role on, whether it’s us or somebody else. And if we can’t pull it off, I, you know, I hope somebody pulls it off.

Trisha Stetzel: Well, I’m here to say that I think we can do this. Uh, and we’re going to coach, uh, over the next 12 weeks, which is the first 90 days of 2026, and we’re going to make it happen. Hey, Stone, I want to come to you because I think during our discovery call, it’s really important for the listeners to understand what a certified partner is. So can you give us a high level of what that looks like?

Stone Payton: Um, I can give you a high level of today’s rendition, and I’m hoping to get some real help on this as we go through the the process because again, we’re still wrestling with. Is it too much of a leap for me to try to help, uh, you know, someone who’s bought into a coaching franchise or an individual practitioner in any market? Is it a big leap for me to try to take them all the way to, what, a mike salmon or, you know, or somebody like that is doing in a market, one of our studio partners. So at the moment, uh, our current rendition of being a certified partner is someone who joins the team. We teach them our methodology. We, we, um, give them, avail them to all of our systems, and we teach them everything from from the hosting mechanics to all the stuff we’ve learned over the last 20 years how to help people and make money with this platform. And we set them up and teach them how to, uh, first and foremost, to grow their existing business. And we teach them how to, uh, to, uh, tap into these other revenue streams by turning around and making that service available to, uh, professional services providers in their local market. But we’re still wrestling with should we have a little bit? Should we have a tier in between that and should that be called certified partner? And the other thing be called studio partner? We’re wrestling with that right now. But um, that’s yeah, that’s one of the things that we’re still trying to talk through.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay. More to come and unfold as we move through the next few weeks. So we’re going to be working on clarity. We’ve talked a little bit about the vision. We’re going to get more clear on that. The both of you have plenty of motivation to get through this process, and lots of proof from people who have used the system and continue to use the system and are very successful in all of the revenue streams. And even creating this lead funnel, which I think is foundational, uh, in this business. So the foundation is strong. Now it’s all about structure and focus. I love it. All right gentlemen, so here’s how the next few weeks are going to unfold. Each week I’m going to bring a specialist coach to help you tackle one step of the journey. Um, vision partner profile, your messaging community scaling, and more. Next week, as I mentioned, I’ll be your coach again. We’re going to get laser focused on 2026, particularly the first 90 days. Uh, as we roll through our next 12 sessions, we’re going to build your first set of quarterly OKRs, which are clear, measurable objectives that keep this journey real and accountable. Back to what I said to you earlier, Lee. We’ve got to put some numbers in that in that box, uh, so that we’ve got something to shoot for. All right. So before we wrap up, I’d love to know what is one commitment from each of you as you begin this process and something that’s going to keep you centered. As you scale in public.

Lee Kantor: I mean, for me, I’m going to be try to be coachable. I’m going to be open to trying things that might be against my initial, uh, first instinct. But I promise to listen and to, um, you know, try and implement anything that is recommended. And, um, and openly share the results.

Trisha Stetzel: Thank you. Lee, how about you, Stone? What’s one commitment?

Stone Payton: I am going to do everything in my power to take my sales hat off and be vulnerable, transparent, tell the truth about what I’m thinking, what I’m struggling with. And as Lee said, um, try to be coachable.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that those commitments are what this whole project is really built on, gentlemen. And, you know, it really is about honesty, progress and service. The people that you want to serve and bring into the fold. Thank you both for letting us into your process today. This is going to be so much fun, and I really appreciate you being vulnerable and honest and coachable. And I will see you guys next week.

Stone Payton: Thanks, Trisha.

Lee Kantor: Thank you.

Outro: Thanks for listening to Scaling in Public. The next Business RadioX 100 markets. Are you ready to enjoy a steady stream of discovery calls and finally, stop being a best kept secret? It’s time to step out of the shadows and watch your coaching business grow. Let’s fill your calendar ten discovery calls in a month, guaranteed. Go to Burkes. Com to download the free Business RadioX playbook.