How Purpose Builds Value Confidence, with Shane Jackson (The Price and Value Journey, Episode 135)
In this episode of The Price and Value Journey, host John Ray shares a powerful conversation with Shane Jackson, leader of Jackson Healthcare and author of This Is the Thing: About Life, Joy and Owning Your Purpose. They explore the often-overlooked connection between understanding your personal purpose and being able to confidently communicate your professional value.
Shane reveals why the professionals who struggle most with confidence in their value are often those who haven’t done the deeper work of understanding what drives them and why their work matters. Through personal stories and practical frameworks, he shows how clarity about your purpose becomes the foundation for confident client conversations.
John and Shane dive into redefining purpose as something practical rather than mystical, the power of seeing your work as creating ripples of impact, and Shane’s “pebble in your shoe” technique for staying intentional about how you show up professionally. Whether you are struggling to articulate your value proposition or feeling stuck in value and pricing conversations, this episode offers insights that go far beyond typical business advice.
This conversation originally aired on North Fulton Business Radio, but the insights are so relevant to The Price and Value Journey that John wanted to share them here.
The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of the Business RadioX® podcast network.
Key Takeaways from this Episode
Purpose drives confidence – Service providers who struggle with value conversations often lack clarity about their own purpose and the unique value they bring
Purpose is practical, not mystical – Purpose is simply “the result you want from all the decisions you make in life.” It’s about how you want to experience your work
Purpose evolves and that’s healthy – Embrace that your sense of purpose will change over time as you grow and your circumstances change
Focus on impact, not memory – True legacy comes from the ripples you create through impacting others, not from being remembered
You’re already positioned to create value – Before seeking new opportunities, recognize the influence and impact potential in your current role and relationships
Small intentional changes compound – Use “pebbles in your shoe,” simple triggers that prompt you to ask, “Is this aligned with how I want to experience my work?”
Community amplifies purpose – Relationships and networks aren’t just business tools. They’re essential for discovering and living out your purpose
Topics Discussed in this Episode
00:00 Introduction to The Price and Value Journey
00:05 The Importance of Personal Purpose in Professional Services
00:22 Introducing Shane Jackson and His New Book
00:51 The Connection Between Personal Purpose and Professional Value
01:25 Insights from Shane Jackson on Purpose and Value
01:54 Rebroadcast from North Fulton Business Radio
02:28 Shane Jackson’s Background and Jackson Healthcare
03:56 Jackson Healthcare’s Role During the Pandemic
05:43 Discussing Shane Jackson’s New Book
08:19 The Concept of Purpose and Its Practical Application
14:11 The Evolving Nature of Purpose
16:45 The Journey of Purpose and Joy
19:09 Legacy and Family Lessons
19:54 The Futility of Building a Legacy
21:05 Impact Over Remembrance
22:02 Family Legacies: A Tale of Two Histories
25:06 Creating Ripples: The Power of Small Actions
25:41 Purpose and Leadership
28:53 The Importance of Community and Relationships
34:32 Practical Daily Changes for a Purposeful Life
38:17 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Shane Jackson, President, Jackson Healthcare, and Author of This Is the Thing: About Life, Joy, and Owning Your Purpose
Shane Jackson is President of Jackson Healthcare, the parent company of more than 20 healthcare workforce services businesses that serve over 20 million patients each year. Championing its mission of improving the delivery of patient care and the lives of everyone it touches, he has led the organization through growth that has landed it on the Forbes® list of America’s Largest Private Companies; placement on the 100 Best Companies to Work For® and Best Workplaces in Health Care™ lists by Fortune®; a spot on the Companies that Care list by PEOPLE®; and nearly a decade of Great Place To Work® certification.
Shane is the author of two books: This Is the Thing: About Life, Joy, and Owning Your Purpose (2025) and Fostering Culture: A Leader’s Guide to Purposefully Shaping Culture (originally published in 2018 with a second edition in 2024). He has written for Fast Company and Forbes on the topics of leadership, workplace culture, and living and leading with intention. He also publishes insights on his own platform and is a frequent keynote speaker at conferences and events across the country.
In addition to the business he leads at Jackson Healthcare, Shane champions the organization’s LoveLifts community impact platform that focuses on improving access to healthcare and the well-being of young people. Under his leadership, LoveLifts partners with more than 450 nonprofit organizations annually, making a positive impact in local and global communities.
In 2024, Shane was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® National finalist, in addition to being selected as a winner in the program’s Southeast region. He also has been recognized multiple years on Staffing Industry Analysts’ Staffing 100, a list of the top North American leaders shaping the industry and influencing the workforce solutions ecosystem.
Shane serves on the boards of 3DE and King’s Ridge Christian School and is vice chair of the leader-led goBeyondProfit business initiative that promotes the belief that giving back is good for business. He earned an MBA from Emory University and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Harding University.
About The Price and Value Journey Podcast
The Price and Value Journey is a show for expert-service professionals who want more than formulas and quick fixes. If you’re a solo or small-firm provider—consultant, coach, attorney, CPA, or fractional executive—you know the real work of building a practice goes far beyond pricing. It’s about finding clarity, showing up with confidence, and learning how to express the full value of what you do in ways that clients understand and appreciate.
Hosted by John Ray, business advisor and author of The Generosity Mindset, this podcast explores the deeper journey behind running a services business: how you think about your work, how you relate to clients, and how you sustain a business that’s not only profitable but deeply fulfilling. Yes, we talk pricing, but we also talk mindset, business development, trust, empathy, positioning, and all the intangible ingredients that make a practice thrive.
With solo episodes and conversations featuring thoughtful guests, The Price and Value Journey is a companion for professionals who are building something meaningful. Produced in partnership with North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, the podcast is accessible on all major podcast platforms. The complete show archive is here.
John Ray, Host of The Price and Value Journey
John Ray is the host of The Price and Value Journey.
John owns Ray Business Advisors, a business advisory practice. John’s services include business coaching and advisory work, as well as advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their pricing. John is passionate about the power of pricing for business owners, as changing pricing is the fastest way to change the profitability of a business. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, consultants, coaches, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.
In his other business, John is a podcast show host, strategist, and the owner of North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®. John and his team work with B2B professionals to create and conduct their podcast using The Generosity Mindset® Method: building and deepening relationships in a non-salesy way that translates into revenue for their business.
John is also the host of North Fulton Business Radio. With over 850 shows and having featured over 1,300 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in its region like no one else.
John’s book, The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices
John is the #1 national best-selling author of The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices.
If you are a professional services provider, your goal is to do transformative work for clients you love working with and get paid commensurate with the value you deliver to them. While negative mindsets can inhibit your growth, adopting a different mindset, The Generosity Mindset™, can replace those self-limiting beliefs. The Generosity Mindset enables you to diagnose and communicate the value you deliver to clients and, in turn, more effectively price to receive a portion of that value.
Whether you’re a consultant, coach, marketing or branding professional, business advisor, attorney, CPA, or work in virtually any other professional services discipline, your content and technical expertise are not proprietary. What’s unique, though, is your experience and how you synthesize and deliver your knowledge. What’s special is your demeanor or the way you deal with your best-fit clients. What’s invaluable is how you deliver outstanding value by guiding people through massive changes in their personal lives and in their businesses that bring them to a place they never thought possible.
Your combination of these elements is unique in your industry. There lies your value, but it’s not the value you see. It’s the value your best-fit customers see in you.
If pricing your value feels uncomfortable or unfamiliar to you, this book will teach you why putting a price on the value your clients perceive and identify serves both them and you, and you’ll learn the factors involved in getting your price right.
The book is available at all major physical and online book retailers worldwide. Follow this link for further details.
