Claim OwnershipPeople On Purpose®
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© Copyright 2026 Kira La Forgia
Description
People On Purpose, the podcast that reminds you that your business doesn’t run on policies and processes alone... it runs on people.
If you’ve been with us since the On The Up & Up! days, you probably remember the tactical HR tips, the “how-to hire” episodes, and my rants about I-9s and contractors vs. employees. And don’t worry, you’ll still hear the occasional HR compliance tip.
But after years of working with hundreds of small businesses, I realized something big:
It’s not the systems or the SOPs that make your business work. It’s the humans behind them.
So this new chapter of the podcast is about the messy middle of building a team. Think: more purpose than payroll and more community than compliance.
We’re talking about what it really takes to create a workplace where people actually want to show up, not because they have to, but because they believe in what you’re building… or at the very least, because it feels great to work there.
Each week, we’ll explore the people-side of small business - from leadership and management, to community and culture - with best best practices, strategies, and the occasional leadership horror story - because we’ve all got ‘em.
If you’ve been with us since the On The Up & Up! days, you probably remember the tactical HR tips, the “how-to hire” episodes, and my rants about I-9s and contractors vs. employees. And don’t worry, you’ll still hear the occasional HR compliance tip.
But after years of working with hundreds of small businesses, I realized something big:
It’s not the systems or the SOPs that make your business work. It’s the humans behind them.
So this new chapter of the podcast is about the messy middle of building a team. Think: more purpose than payroll and more community than compliance.
We’re talking about what it really takes to create a workplace where people actually want to show up, not because they have to, but because they believe in what you’re building… or at the very least, because it feels great to work there.
Each week, we’ll explore the people-side of small business - from leadership and management, to community and culture - with best best practices, strategies, and the occasional leadership horror story - because we’ve all got ‘em.
127 Episodes
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This week we’re joined by Braden Drake: wedding industry lawyer and longtime friend. We cover a lot in this episode, but it all keeps circling back to one idea: information used to be the thing a business could sell. Now that AI can get you information in a snap, connection is what’s really for sale.We're breaking down:Classifying your team by what you actually need, not what’s easiest to avoidWhat to do when someone steals your work (hint: it’s not a lawsuit)The real reason people quit small teams.Braden’s “green flag” system for actually following through on priorities.We ask a lot of important questions in this episode, but an important one remains unanswered: Should Braden and I start a podcast?Want more People On Purpose®? Subscribe to the newsletter to keep the conversation going every week.
Every founder bottleneck comes down to one of two things:First, capacity. You don’t have time to do everything (and it certainly doesn’t help that what you think is a “quick 15-minute task” usually takes much longer to complete.)Then there’s clarity. Your team doesn’t have the information or permission to make decisions without you, so you become the thing in the way of getting things done.We can’t snap our fingers and give you more hours in the day (believe me, we’ve tried), but we can help with the clarity problem, and that’s exactly what we’re doing in this episode.We’re breaking down:Why founder bottlenecks are usually about control, not capabilityHow to approach clarity bottlenecks differently than capacity onesWhat your team’s questions actually say about you as a leaderWhat happens when you avoid feedback to hide from difficult conversationsTalking about being the bottleneck in your business can feel awkward and boring. But being the bottleneck in your business can be the difference between moving forward or staying stuck.Want more People On Purpose®? Subscribe to the newsletter to keep the conversation going every week.
Can your business run without you? This question is a bit of a two-parter.First there's the day-to-day. Your team, your SOPs, your business's ability to keep things moving whether you're there or not.Then there's the bigger picture. Quality control, vision for the future, the judgment calls nobody else can make for you. That's what this week's episode is all about.We're breaking down:Why revenue isn't the tell-all metric. The year Kira ran her business almost entirely without her, and what it cost long after the P&L still looked fine.The four things that stay yours, no matter what you delegate. What quality looks like going out the door, the relationship context living in your head, the "no list" you enforce without saying it out loud, and the escalation logic your team is guessing at.What getting laid off from her own COO job taught Kira about culture. Thirteen and a half years in, and how a right-hand person can quietly absorb the whole business without anyone deciding that on purpose.Season 3 runs on questions like this one. Subscribe to the newsletter to keep the conversation going every week.
This week we're sitting down with Stacia, founder and CEO of Switch It Up Designs, a seven-figure digital marketing agency, and co-founder of authority.io — a DIY ad platform that lets small business owners run expert-level ads in four clicks. Her team manages over $8 million in annual ad spend and has helped generate over $500 million in client revenue. She's also one of our clients — so we can personally vouch for the culture she's built.Listen in to hear:How she went from a modern dance degree and a failed $99-a-year business to a seven-figure agencyWhy paid media is the only marketing channel that can actually guarantee your growthWhat authority.io is and why it's changing the game for small business ownersWhy the founders with the best retention are the ones who just genuinely give a shitThe AI conversation nobody is having honestly enough
Nobody wants to be in this position. But if you clicked on this one, you probably need it — and we're glad you're here.Nothing we say can make firing someone feel good, but this episode breaks down everything you need to know to ensure you're letting someone go with integrity, in a way that protects your business and lets you come out the other side with your culture intact. Because firing someone thoughtfully can actually strengthen your team's trust in you. Doing it poorly can destroy it.Listen in to hear:Why firing someone is not a failure of leadership — but avoiding it when it's necessary usually isThe mistakes leaders make that turn a clean exit into a compliance nightmareWhy most termination lawsuits aren't about the firing — they're about the story that doesn't add upWhat your team is actually watching for when someone gets let goThe things you should never say in a termination meeting — and what to say insteadWhy by the time you're ready to have the conversation, your team probably already saw it comingGet the Clean Exit Bundle: https://paradigmconsulting.thrivecart.com/clean-exit-bundle/
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