GrowthReady Podcast with Steve Mellor

Latest Episodes:

Episode 301: Unlock Calm, Clarity & Purpose, Even If Your Mind Never Slows Down w/ Benedict Beaumont Jan 07, 2026

Show notes

About the Guest: Benedict Beaumont is a breathwork facilitator, transformational teacher, and guide who helps high-performers reconnect with their inner wisdom, emotional clarity, and personal potential, all through the accessible yet powerful practice of breathwork. Benedict’s journey spans childhood asthma, personal resistance, deep self-discovery, and an eventual awakening through breath practice. Today, his teachings integrate somatic experience with spiritual grounding, making breathwork practical for leaders, entrepreneurs, and everyday humans seeking direction, healing, and growth.

In this deeply experiential conversation, Steve and Benedict explore how breathwork can reveal clarity, unlock inner strength, and reconnect us to the parts of ourselves we often neglect. Benedict shares his personal story — from asthma and avoidance to transformation and purpose — and guides listeners through a powerful breathwork session designed to slow the mind, heighten awareness, and illuminate the decisions we’ve been wrestling with.

Key Topics & Themes

The link between how we breathe and how we show up in life.
Why high-performers resist what’s best for them — and how to overcome it.
Breathwork as a tool for decision-making clarity.
How childhood experiences shape adult resistance and trust.
The relationship between spirituality, inner wisdom, and breath.
Why neglecting your relationship with yourself has profound consequences.
The “journey from the head to the heart” — and how breath bridges the gap.
How breathwork simplifies what we tend to complicate.
Building trust with yourself, the universe, God, or whatever you believe in.

Resources Mentioned

Benedict Beaumont’s Breathwork Trainings & Resources
Breathwork practice guidelines mentioned during the session

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LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-mellor-cc/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/coachstevemellor
Book Steve to speak at your next event → www.stevemellorspeaks.com
Support the GrowthReady Podcast by leaving a 5-star rating → Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/growthready-podcast/id1406082163

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Join the community and keep your growth journey going:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearegrowthready/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/growthreadypodcast/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/growthreadywithcoachstevemellor
Official Website - https://growthready.com/

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This podcast was produced on Riverside and released via ...

Episode 300: Belief, Effort, and the Willingness to Say Yes with Pat Fellows Dec 31, 2025

Show notes

About the Guest: Pat Fellows is an entrepreneur, endurance athlete, and co-founder of Fresh Junkie Racing, one of the leading endurance event organizations in the southeastern United States. With decades of experience in coaching, hospitality, music, and large-scale race production—including the iconic Louisiana Marathon—Pat is known for his relentless “say yes and figure it out” mindset. His story is a masterclass in belief, resilience, and execution without certainty.

About the Episode: This milestone 300th episode of the GrowthReady Podcast is an unfiltered, in-person conversation between Steve Mellor and longtime friend Pat Fellows.

Together, they unpack what it actually means to be growth ready—especially when there’s no proof, no roadmap, and plenty of reasons to say no. From building massive endurance events with zero precedent to swimming 34 miles without ever questioning if it was possible, Pat shares how belief is formed through action, effort, and conviction—not confidence or certainty.

This episode is for leaders, entrepreneurs, and high-performers who feel stuck waiting for permission, clarity, or evidence before taking the next step.

Key Topics & Themes

What it really means to be Growth Ready
The power of a “yes-first” mindset
Belief built through capability and effort, not outcomes
Why waiting for proof keeps people stuck
Saying yes when everything tells you no
Leading through uncertainty and self-doubt
Mental toughness, depression, and momentum
Why execution beats confidence every time
How high-performers get “unstuck”
Reframing fear as fuel

Resources Mentioned

Fresh Junkie Racing
Louisiana Marathon
Endurance training & event production insights

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LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-mellor-cc/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/coachstevemellor
Book Steve to speak at your next event → www.stevemellorspeaks.com
Support the GrowthReady Podcast by leaving a 5-star rating → Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/growthready-podcast/id1406082163

Connect with GrowthReady

Join the community and keep your growth journey going:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearegrowthready/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/growthreadypodcast/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/growthreadywithcoachstevemellor
Official Website - https://growthready.com/

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This podcast was produced on Riverside and released via ...

Episode 299: Transform Your Life, Even If You’ve Been Stuck for Years w/ Justin Burgess Dec 24, 2025

Show notes

About the Guest : Justin Burgess is a Louisiana-based insurance entrepreneur, health advocate, and rising voice in the fitness and performance world. After spending years stuck in mediocrity, overweight, unhealthy, and settling for a corporate life, Justin radically transformed his body, mindset, and career. He lost 60 pounds, rebuilt his confidence, and launched his own brokerage with a mission built on transparency, effort, and people over profits.

Episode Summary: In this energizing, relatable conversation, Steve Mellor sits down with insurance entrepreneur and fitness-driven high performer Justin Burgess to unpack what personal growth really looks like when you decide you've had enough of your own excuses.

Justin shares the story of going from complacent and unhealthy to losing 60 pounds, rebuilding his confidence, launching his own business, and reshaping his entire identity as a leader, father, and husband. He breaks down the power of community, discipline, transparency, and choosing to “bet on yourself”, even when doubt follows you into every new opportunity.

Key Takeaways:

The moment Justin realized he was living below his potential
Losing 60 pounds and rebuilding confidence
How fitness unlocked growth in business and relationships
Community, vulnerability, and doing hard things with others
The patience required in relationship-driven industries
Building a personal brand with transparency
The “people over profits” philosophy
Betting on yourself and saying yes before you’re ready

Links & Resources Mentioned

Justin Burgess — LinkedIn
Justin’s Socials: TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook

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Stay connected and keep growing with Steve:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-mellor-cc/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/coachstevemellor
Book Steve to speak at your next event → www.stevemellorspeaks.com
Support the GrowthReady Podcast by leaving a 5-star rating → Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/growthready-podcast/id1406082163

Connect with GrowthReady

Join the community and keep your growth journey going:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearegrowthready/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/growthreadypodcast/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/growthreadywithcoachstevemellor
Official Website - https://growthready.com/

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This podcast was produced on Riverside and released via ...

Episode 298: Build a Growth Mindset That Thrives in Constant Change with Tim Cakir Dec 17, 2025

Show notes

About the Guest: Tim Cakir is the Founder of AI Operator and a seasoned growth leader with over a decade of experience spanning growth marketing, executive leadership, and AI enablement. Formerly a CEO leading teams of 100+ people, Tim now focuses on helping companies and individuals adopt an AI-first mindset rooted in curiosity, experimentation, and intentional decision-making. He’s also a Growth Mentor, global operator, and vocal advocate for navigating permanent change with love over fear.

About the Episode: In this episode of the GrowthReady Podcast, Steve Mellor sits down with Tim Cakir to explore what it truly means to be growth ready in an era of permanent change, especially as AI continues to reshape how we work, think, and lead.

Key Takeaways:

What “permanent change” really means in the AI era
Growth mindset vs. fixed mindset in high performers
Curiosity as a leadership advantage
Love vs. fear as a decision-making framework
Why experimentation beats perfection
Decision journals and intentional decision-making
Avoiding consumption paralysis (consume → create)
Using AI to remove friction and reclaim focus
Mental health, panic attacks, and presence
Leading yourself before leading others

Links & Resources Mentioned

AI Operator
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
Tools referenced: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, voice notes, AI agents

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Connect with Steve Mellor

Stay connected and keep growing with Steve:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-mellor-cc/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/coachstevemellor
Book Steve to speak at your next event → www.stevemellorspeaks.com
Support the GrowthReady Podcast by leaving a 5-star rating → Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/growthready-podcast/id1406082163

Connect with GrowthReady

Join the community and keep your growth journey going:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearegrowthready/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/growthreadypodcast/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/growthreadywithcoachstevemellor
Official Website - https://growthready.com/

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This podcast was produced on Riverside and released via ...

Episode 297: From Fixing Laundromats to Building a $100M Empire: Why 'Why Not?' Changes Everything w/ Sardor Umrdinov Dec 10, 2025

Show notes

About the Guest: Sardor Umrdinov is a serial entrepreneur, founder, and ecosystem builder who went from growing up in Uzbekistan without basic resources — including a refrigerator — to running one of the largest appliance repair companies in the U.S., plus a rapidly scaling multi-business ecosystem.

Sardor’s story is defined by relentless curiosity, extreme accountability, and a willingness to enter every new room before he feels ready. He’s a master of creating scalable structures, building internal accountability systems, and empowering teams to solve problems at the highest level. He hosts the Founder to Founder podcast, interviewing leaders building $100M–$1B companies.

Episode Summary: In this powerful conversation, Steve Mellor and serial entrepreneur Sardor Umrdinov break down the mindset, discipline, and structure required to scale yourself and your business far beyond what you think you’re capable of.

Sardor shares how growing up with constant discomfort — new languages, new environments, new failures — taught him to build readiness through action, not delay. He explains how he built an accountability “ecosystem,” why success requires a 360° support system, and how he scaled from technician to industry leader by solving bigger and bigger problems.

This episode is a masterclass in growth for founders, leaders, and high performers who want to build momentum, expand capacity, and craft a structure that makes success inevitable.

Key Takeaways:

Why readiness is built through action, not preparation
Sardor’s childhood in Uzbekistan & early resilience
Leaving comfort zones repeatedly to develop identity
Breaking down long-term goals into daily discipline
Building a 360° ecosystem of accountability
How internal “micro-boards” strengthen company growth
The 1–3–1 problem-solving rule for teams
Why entrepreneurs should love big problems
Bringing spouses into long-term vision planning
Building companies designed to last 300 years
Curiosity as a superpower in the AI era

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Connect with Steve Mellor

Stay connected and keep growing with Steve:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-mellor-cc/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/coachstevemellor
Book Steve to speak at your next event → www.stevemellorspeaks.com
Support the GrowthReady Podcast by leaving a 5-star rating → Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/growthready-podcast/id1406082163

Connect with GrowthReady

Join the community and keep your growth journey going:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearegrowthready/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/growthreadypodcast/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/growthreadywithcoachstevemellor
Official Website - https://growthready.com/

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This podcast was produced on Riverside and released via ...

Episode 296: Relentless Resilience Even If You Feel Broken w/ Dr. John King Dec 03, 2025

Show notes

About the Guest: Dr. John A. King is a poet, author of 27 books, speaker, former executive, and trauma-focused performance strategist who helps high-achieving leaders confront the internal battles they’ve spent a lifetime avoiding. Known for his blunt honesty, deep compassion, and the Finnish concept of sisu—“white-knuckled courage in the face of overwhelming odds”—John teaches others how to build “relentless resilience” from the inside out. His upcoming fiction thriller Sins of the Father continues his mission of transforming pain into purposeful creative work.

Episode Summary: In this raw, deeply human conversation, Steve Mellor sits down with Dr. John A. King to explore the real meaning of growth: facing yourself. Not the polished, curated, high-performance version of yourself — but the unfiltered, uncomfortable truth you’ve avoided for years.

John shares the moment his past crashed into his present (“Johnageddon”), how he rebuilt his identity from the inside out, and why most people never stop long enough to actually ask: Who am I? And what do I truly want?

From trauma, resilience, morning routines, authenticity, performance myths, and redefining success, this episode is part gut punch, part wake-up call — especially for leaders who want to grow without losing themselves.

Takeaways:

The real meaning of relentless resilience and sisu
Why men struggle to confront their internal world
The myth of the “performance mindset” industry
Authenticity vs. living from the outside in
How trauma masquerades as drive and ambition
The hidden cost of success without self-awareness
Building rules & habits that stabilize your life
Why rejection doesn’t sting when you’re at peace with yourself
Letting your past refine you — not define you
The daily work of becoming someone you actually enjoy being with

Links & Resources Mentioned

Dr. John A. King — Website: https://drjohnaking.com
MindFire Challenge (Free 5–6 Week Program)
Social: @drjohnaking

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Connect with Steve Mellor

Stay connected and keep growing with Steve:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-mellor-cc/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/coachstevemellor
Book Steve to speak at your next event → www.stevemellorspeaks.com
Support the GrowthReady Podcast by leaving a 5-star rating → Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/growthready-podcast/id1406082163

Connect with GrowthReady

Join the community and keep your growth journey going:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearegrowthready/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/growthreadypodcast/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/growthreadywithcoachstevemellor
Official Website - https://growthready.com/

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This podcast was produced on Riverside and released via ...

Episode 295: Ask Better Questions Even If You’re Afraid of Not Having the Answers with Jen Mueller Nov 26, 2025

Show notes

About the guest: Jen Mueller is a veteran sports broadcaster with more than 20 years on NFL and MLB sidelines, including as the longtime team reporter for the Seattle Seahawks. She’s known for her mastery of strategic communication, her ability to build trust in seconds inside high-stakes locker rooms, and her signature method of crafting powerful, specific questions that unlock honest, meaningful conversations. Through her platform Talk Sporty to Me, Jen teaches leaders, teams, and high performers how to communicate with the confidence, clarity, and intentionality of elite athletes.

About the episode: In this GrowthReady conversation, Jen Mueller pulls back the curtain on what 25 years inside professional locker rooms taught her about confidence, communication, and high performance. She and Steve explore how leaders can ask better questions, stack daily wins, build trust quickly, and show up intentionally, even when you feel unprepared or overwhelmed.

Jen shares her “bubble gum moments,” her 60–90-second rule for meaningful conversations, and the surprising mindset shift that helped her grow in an environment that wasn’t always welcoming. This episode will resonate with anyone navigating discomfort, wanting to communicate with more impact, or trying to build confidence day by day.

Takeaways:

Why not having all the answers is key to growth
How Jen builds trust with elite athletes in under 90 seconds
The power of specific questions vs. broad open-ended ones
How to journal like a high performer using Jen’s 5 post-game categories
“Bubble gum moments”, stacking small intentional wins
Using time as your ultimate performance metric
Building confidence before opportunities arrive
How leaders can communicate like pro athletes
Preparing for moments long before anyone is watching
Owning your voice and not opting out of conversations

Links and Resources:

Talk Sporty To Me
Jen Mueller on social: @TalkSportyToMe
Jen Mueller on LinkedIn: Jen Mueller (Talk Sporty To Me)

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Stay connected and keep growing with Steve:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-mellor-cc/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/coachstevemellor
Book Steve to speak at your next event → www.stevemellorspeaks.com
Support the GrowthReady Podcast by leaving a 5-star rating → Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/growthready-podcast/id1406082163

Connect with GrowthReady

Join the community and keep your growth journey going:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearegrowthready/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/growthreadypodcast/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/growthreadywithcoachstevemellor
Official Website - https://growthready.com/

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This podcast was produced on Riverside and released via ...

Episode 294: Unlock Your True Purpose Even If You’ve Tried Everything Before with Paul Davis Nov 19, 2025

Show notes

About the guest: Paul Davis is a business strategist, intuitive consultant, author, and expert in aligning leaders with their unconscious blueprint to unlock purpose, direction, and fulfillment. With decades of experience turning companies around and guiding high-performers toward meaningful clarity, Paul blends business acumen with deep intuitive insight to help people uncover who they truly are and what they are meant to do.

About the episode: In this powerful conversation, Paul Davis takes us far deeper than traditional conversations about “purpose” and “passion.” He explains why so many leaders unknowingly pursue the wrong goals, repeat the same unfulfilling cycles, and operate on beliefs that work against them. Paul breaks down how intuition, often ignored or misunderstood, is actually the key to discovering our unconscious blueprint and uncovering what we’re truly here to do.

Together, we explore how to align with authenticity, why hunger is the RESULT of inner work (not the starting point), and how high performers can finally find clarity that sticks.

Takeaways:

Why hunger is a byproduct of clarity, not the starting point
The difference between passion, purpose, and your unconscious “quest”
How intuition actually works, and why most people misinterpret it
The role of beliefs and how they quietly limit success
How to sense the difference between intuition and rational thinking
Why following what “everyone else is doing” leads to burnout and misalignment
Authenticity as expressing your “genius oneness” rather than mimicking others
How business owners can build differently by trusting their intuitive blueprint
The value of handwriting, meditation, and self-reflection in unlocking insight

Resources Mentioned:

Paul’s website - https://davisbusinessconsultants.com/
Paul’s books - https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Snakes-Ladders-Game-Life-ebook/dp/B0FXS3HSS7
Reference to Les Brown

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LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-mellor-cc/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/coachstevemellor
Book Steve to speak at your next event → www.stevemellorspeaks.com
Support the GrowthReady Podcast by leaving a 5-star rating → Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/growthready-podcast/id1406082163

Connect with GrowthReady

Join the community and keep your growth journey going:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearegrowthready/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/growthreadypodcast/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/growthreadywithcoachstevemellor
Official Website - https://growthready.com/

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This podcast was produced on Riverside and released via ...

Episode 293: Build Real Wealth Without Burning Out with Lane Kawaoka Nov 12, 2025

Show notes

About the guest: Lane Kawaoka is a real estate investor, entrepreneur, and founder of The Wealth Elevator, a platform dedicated to helping high-net-worth individuals and business owners move beyond traditional investing. A former engineer turned full-time investor, Lane has built a multimillion-dollar portfolio through alternative investments and has built a thriving community that connects accredited investors to real opportunities.

About the episode: In this episode of GrowthReady, host Steve Mellor sits down with Lane Kawaoka, a former engineer who traded his stable career for financial freedom through smart investing and community building. Lane shares his journey from buying his first rental property in 2009 to now leading a network of accredited investors and entrepreneurs focused on growing wealth outside the traditional stock market.

You’ll hear Lane’s insights on the internal vs. external factors that drive growth, why curiosity and humility matter more than ever in business, and how community, not isolation, is the ultimate currency of the wealthy. This conversation is packed with practical mindset shifts for high performers looking to scale not just their income, but their impact.

Takeaways:

How to know when it’s time to change what got you here
Why curiosity is the secret growth advantage for leaders
The importance of community and structured connection
How Lane transitioned from engineer to full-time entrepreneur
The difference between external market shifts and internal growth
The “wealth elevator” framework for building true financial freedom
Why social relationships, not money, are the real currency of success
How to stay grounded while scaling to 8 figures and beyond

Connect with Lane:

Lane’s Book: The Wealth Elevator – Available on Amazon
Lane’s Podcast: The Wealth Elevator

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Stay connected and keep growing with Steve:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-mellor-cc/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/coachstevemellor
Book Steve to speak at your next event → www.stevemellorspeaks.com
Support the GrowthReady Podcast by leaving a 5-star rating → Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/growthready-podcast/id1406082163

Connect with GrowthReady

Join the community and keep your growth journey going:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearegrowthready/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/growthreadypodcast/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/growthreadywithcoachstevemellor
Official Website - https://growthready.com/

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This podcast was produced on Riverside and released via ...

Episode 292: Redefine Your Identity and Achieve Unreasonable Growth with Dr. Nona Djavid Nov 05, 2025

Show notes

Most leaders set goals that feel safe, but safe goals don’t create transformation.

In this episode, Dr. Nona Djavid shares how to rewire your brain, expand your identity, and design a vision so bold it scares you, then make that vision feel safe enough to live.

We break down her 4-step framework for unreasonable growth, the neuroscience behind identity change, and how to become the person your next chapter requires.

About the Guest: Dr. Nona Djavid is a neuroscientist, entrepreneur, and mindset strategist helping high-performing leaders and business owners design “unreasonable” visions and scale their results without burnout. Through her Unreasonable Method™ and neuroscience-backed frameworks, she teaches individuals to expand their identity, align behaviors, and achieve quantum leaps in life and business.

About the Episode: In this GrowthReady episode, Steve Mellor sits down with Dr. Nona Djavid to explore how to go beyond SMART goals and design the life you truly want by thinking, and being bigger. Nona shares her four-step framework for turning “unreasonable” visions into grounded realities, explaining how our nervous system, identity, and behaviors all shape what we believe is possible.

This episode unpacks the neuroscience behind change, the difference between realistic and transformative goals, and why your current identity might be holding you back from the future you’re capable of creating.

The 3 types of goals: SMART, Inspired, and Unreasonable
Why your nervous system resists big goals (and how to reprogram it)
The science of identity expansion
The role of embodiment in achieving success
Balancing safety and stretch in your vision
Why behavior consistency starts with who you believe you are
How to set goals that pull you forward instead of pushing you to burnout

Links & Resources Mentioned

Connect with Dr. Nona Djavid on Instagram: @drnonadjavid
Watch Dr. Nona’s free 90-minute Quantum Leap Workshop (DM her “Quantum Leap” on Instagram to get the link)
Book Recommendation: Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara

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LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-mellor-cc/
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Book Steve to speak at your next event → www.stevemellorspeaks.com
Support the GrowthReady Podcast by leaving a 5-star rating → Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/growthready-podcast/id1406082163

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