Extraordinary Advisors

10/05/2026

A NEW BOOK FROM TODD PALMER

Traumapreneur Why Success Wont Make You Happy(and What Will)You built the thing. From the outside it worked, and most days you can point at the proof. The revenue. The team. The thing you own outright. And there is still a version of you that nobody in the company has ever met, the one awake at two in the morning turning something over that you have never said out loud to anyone.

Sign up today for the Pre-Sale TODAY

The new book from Todd Palmer, for founders who are succeeding on the outside and suffering quietly on the inside.

09/29/2026

As a coach and facilitator, there are a lot of ways to measure whether I have had a successful year.

One that matters most to me is whether I have had the opportunity to sit across the table from my clients and forum members—to do the work in person, in real time, where the conversations are often deeper and the connection is more meaningful.

Zoom is an effective tool, and I am grateful for it. But there is still something powerful about being in the room together. You can feel the energy, read the moments that matter, and create space for conversations that can genuinely change lives and businesses.

I recently received notice from Delta that I have maintained Diamond Medallion status. To most people, that may simply mean a lot of miles and time in airports. To me, it is a reminder of how fortunate I am to be invited into the lives, businesses, forums, and retreats of so many people.

I do not take that trust for granted. I am grateful to do work I love—and to be able to do it with people who are committed to becoming better leaders, entrepreneurs, and human beings.

09/25/2026

2nd unsolicited book endorsement of the week! Thank you for the incredibly kind words !

08/31/2026

Check out my latest podcase appearance! Recently I was a guest on Change & Triumph with Trene Williams. We take the journey from a traumatic childhood to entrepreneurial success. He opens up about overcoming self-doubt and financial struggles, sharing lessons learned from early business pitfalls. They delve into strategies for financial planning and the nuances of coaching startups versus lower middle market companies. Todd discusses adapting to change, repairing family relationships, and insights from Dr. Danny Friedland. They explore AI's impact on business and the active learning cycle. Todd shares his healing journey, personal growth, and introduces his upcoming book, "Traumapreneur," highlighting his greatest change and triumph.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy_vfwkyfrw&list=PLczahyW0gEe_UeaZVt6EijN1F2CtE7nYU&index=1

07/02/2026

Making an impact…that’s what it’s all about. I was with a client in New York for two days this week and they handed out these cards to all of us in the room.

This company has embraced psychological safety, gratitude & appreciation. It’s not a coincidence that they are having their best revenue year ever. Leadership & culture matters!

05/20/2026

This week I facilitated my 79th EO Forum retreat. This one was entirely virtual.

And honestly? Virtual retreats bring a different kind of challenge.

Technology glitches. Screen fatigue. Reading energy through a camera instead of across a table. It requires a different level of intentionality to create connection, trust, and psychological safety in the room.

The theme of this retreat was “Life Transitions.”

Several members are exiting businesses they’ve spent decades building. Others are wrestling with major personal life changes. Identity shifts. Marriage struggles. Questions about meaning, fulfillment, relevance, and purpose beyond achievement.

The kind of conversations most entrepreneurs avoid because slowing down long enough to feel them can be uncomfortable.

Before the retreat, each member completed deep reflection work. I spent hours combing through their responses looking for patterns, contradictions, emotional themes, blind spots, and the places where I sensed the “real issue” might be hiding underneath the surface problem.

And like so often happens in this work… the thing they thought they needed to work on wasn’t actually the thing.

Through reflective inquiry, honest conversation, vulnerability, and some experience share from my own life, every single member ended up somewhere different than where they started.

Not because someone gave them advice.

Because they finally slowed down enough to hear themselves.

One founding member of the Forum — someone who has been part of the group for 18 years — said:

“This is the best facilitation we’ve ever had. Ever.”

Another member came into the retreat highly skeptical about having a facilitator involved at all. Afterward, he sent me a deeply thoughtful message sharing how transformative the work had been for both his professional and personal life.

That meant a lot to me.

Because this work is never about me having the answers.

It’s about creating a psychologically safe space where people feel seen enough, safe enough, and supported enough to finally ask themselves the questions they’ve been avoiding.

The deeper questions.

The ones underneath the business issue.

The ones underneath the success.

Facilitating Forum retreats is some of the most meaningful work I get to do. Watching leaders get unstuck… reconnect with themselves… heal old narratives… and begin designing lives that actually align with who they are today fills my soul in a way I can’t fully describe.

Success is great.

But helping someone build a life they actually want to wake up to?

That’s the work that matters most.

05/13/2026

The digital mask is costing you trust

I looked at a founder’s LinkedIn profile recently and had the exact reaction the blog describes: perfect headshot, perfect lighting, perfect bio, and absolutely no signal that a real person was behind it. It looked polished enough to impress, but not human enough to connect. And that is the problem.

Many founders assume that polish builds authority. But people do not trust what they cannot feel. If everything looks too curated, too clean, too perfect, the brain starts wondering what is being hidden. That is not a branding problem. That is a trust problem.

What most leaders miss is that connection is not created by looking flawless. It is created by being recognizable as a real human being. In a world full of AI-generated perfection, that matters more than ever. People are exhausted by performance. They want a leader they can trust, not a profile that feels like it was written by a committee.

If your brand looks impressive but does not feel like you, that is worth paying attention to. The question is not whether your image is polished. The question is whether it is building trust.

Take the Growth Ceiling Audit:
https://lnkd.in/g2vNJ9S6

05/05/2026

One of the greatest compliments I have ever received as a coach came from my fellow coach Dave Feidner. His public recognition of my work ethic and impact upon others was incredibly generous! Game knows Game.

I love Dave’s abundance mindset. If anyone is looking for a stellar EOS implementer, do yourself a favor and talk with Dave.

04/20/2026

Is Your Superman Cape Killing Your Company?

I know that Superman cape you’re wearing. It’s heavy, and it’s lined with the bone-deep fatigue that comes from feeling like the only person in the room who gives a damn. You tell yourself that good people are hard to find or that nobody cares as you do, but the truth is often much harder to swallow: Your team isn't stepping up because you haven't let them.

Most founders don't struggle with effort; they struggle with surrender.

When you jump into "save" a slipping project, you aren't leading—you are training your team’s nervous systems to stay "offline". You’ve taught them that they don't have to hold the line because you’ll always do it for them. That isn't excellence; it’s an addiction to being needed that turns you into a "Chief Arsonist" who subconsciously protects chaos just to be the one to put it out.

The next time a problem that isn't yours to solve lands on your desk, pause and ask:

"Am I fixing a real problem right now, or am I just feeding my own need to be relevant?"

Stay where you are and ask your team, "How are you going to handle this?" Then stop talking and listen—that discomfort you feel is the sound of your business growing.

Final Thought: Your business should grow because of you—not just through you.

04/15/2026

$30 Million… and Still Not Enough

I sat across from a founder recently.

Top .0001% in her field.
Disciplined. Relentless.
Net worth: $15M.

And she asked me:
“When am I finally going to feel like a success?”

No matter how much money, how much outside success she still felt like she was not enough.

Because if you’re honest…
you’ve probably felt it too.

If you measure your self-worth by your net worth, you’re playing a game you cannot win.

The goalpost always moves.
$1M → not enough
$10M → still not enough
$30M → more pressure, same feeling

Because the problem isn’t external.
It’s internal.

When that “not enough” voice is running your business:
You overwork instead of delegating
You chase revenue instead of profit
You create urgency to feel valuable
You hold control because letting go feels unsafe

From the outside, it looks like success.

From the inside, it feels heavy.

What changed for her?
She stopped trying to prove her worth…
and defined what “enough” actually means.

And here’s the twist:
Her business grew faster.
Not because she did more—
but because she got out of her own way.

So let me ask you:
If what you have right now isn’t enough… what number will be?

And what is it costing you to keep chasing it?

Take 10 minutes today and define “enough.”
Because if you don’t…
you’ll keep scaling a life that never feels like it is