The Freedom Founders Podcast

Build Wealth You Control. Design A Life You Choose. For Founders aiming higher and wanting to maximize time for enjoyment and impact. Burnt out? Needing direction? If you’ve climbed “the mountain” and still feeling like you’re missing something… This podcast shows how other owners are winning back their time, increasing influence and creating cash flow for maximum impact.

The Freedom Founders Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Dr. David Phelps, with 30 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Dr. David Phelps hosts The Freedom Founders Podcast, a business show with 30 episodes published.

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  Episode #30

  The Complexity Trap: When Growing Your Business Makes It Worse - Ep 30 Mark Drager

  Aug 31, 202635 min

  What happens when the growth strategy that built your business becomes the very thing that breaks it? Mark Drager built a digital marketing agency from scratch starting in 2006, growing it into a multi-million dollar company working with international brands, national airlines, and NBA teams. Then COVID hit, wiping out 70% of his revenue overnight. Mark and David dig into the real story behind that collapse — not just the pandemic, but the slow erosion that came before it: chasing bigger clients, saying yes to too many services, and losing the profit margins that made the business work in the first place. They talk rebuilding, realigning his team and client base around who he actually wanted to serve, and why "being known for one thing" beats trying to be everything to everyone. Mark closes with the single piece of advice he'd give any business owner: stop trying to compete on being better, and start competing on being different. Episode Links Connect with Mark Drager - https://www.markdrager.com/ Get David Phelps' Exit Optional Playbook – https://exitoptional.com Highlights Of Our Conversation 00:00 – Intro 05:08 – Starting a Digital Agency at 23 10:16 – Growing Your Way Out of a Problem Doesn't Work 14:28 – Cutting Services and the Trap of "Doing More" 19:16 – Downsizing 24 Employees When 70% of Revenue Disappeared 22:17 – Realigning the Business Around Culture, Not Just Clients 26:19 – Why Differentiation Beats Being "Just As Good" 32:28 – The Shift Toward Manufacturing and Local Trades

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  The Freedom Founders Podcast

  More Than Money: Building a Truly Wealthy Life - Ep29 Jason Medley

  Aug 24, 202638 min

  At some point, more money stops meaningfully changing your life. Jason Medley has experienced both sides of that equation. After losing nearly everything in 2008, he rebuilt, created significant financial success, and eventually reached a point where money no longer provided the same reward it once did. That forced a different question: If more money isn’t going to change your life, what will? In this conversation, Jason and David explore how our definition of wealth changes as we move through different seasons of life. They discuss relationships, family, faith, health, business growth, financial discipline, and the difference between continuing to build because you love creating versus building because you still believe the next number will finally make you feel successful. They also dig into the pressures that come with leadership, why growth can create stress even inside a highly profitable business, and why successful entrepreneurs need relationships with people who understand the challenges that often remain invisible from the outside. Jason Medley is the founder and CEO of The Collective Genius, a community of high-level real estate investors and entrepreneurs. He has more than two decades of experience in real estate and finance and has built his career around business, investing, leadership, and creating meaningful relationships. EPISODE LINKS: Learn more about The Collective Genius: TheCollectiveGenius.com Learn more about Freedom Founders: FreedomFounders.com HIGHLIGHTS: 00:00 — Defining Wealth Beyond Money 00:30 — Meet Jason Medley 04:44 — When More Money Stops Changing Your Life 08:44 — The Origins of Collective Genius 11:23 — Scaling Through People and Impact 14:21 — Why He Still Loves to Build 16:42 — The Hidden Stress of Business Growth 20:04 — Building a Financial Moat 25:23 — The Challenge of Leading People 31:33 — Why Successful People Still Need Community

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  Episode #28

  The Wealthy Don’t Invest Like Everyone Else: Taking Control Beyond Wall Street – Ep28 Mat Sorensen

  Aug 17, 202633 min

  The Wealthy Don’t Invest Like Everyone Else: Taking Control Beyond Wall Street – Ep28 Mat Sorensen What if the money you’ve spent decades building is invested in things you barely understand—and controlled by people you’ll never meet? Mat Sorensen is a business and tax attorney, entrepreneur, author, and founder of Directed IRA. After helping thousands of investors use retirement accounts to purchase real estate, private businesses, oil and gas, venture capital, and other alternative assets, he became one of the nation’s leading authorities on self-directed investing. In this conversation, Mat and David explore why there is no single path to wealth, why earning money and preserving it require different skill sets, and why many successful investors prefer to stay closer to their capital. Mat explains how self-directed retirement accounts can allow investors to move beyond stocks and mutual funds and invest in assets they already know and understand. But greater control also brings greater responsibility. The investor must build the network, evaluate the operator, understand the risks, and develop the judgment to make informed decisions. They also discuss Mat’s unconventional path from becoming a father at 18 to building a national law firm and one of the fastest-growing self-directed retirement companies in the country. The goal is not simply to invest differently. It is to build wealth with greater clarity, connection, and choice. Episode Links Connect with Mat Sorensen and Directed IRA: https://directedira.com Use discount code FREEDOM150 to save $150. Connect with KKOS Lawyers: https://kkoslawyers.com The Self-Directed IRA Handbook: https://sdirahandbook.com Get David Phelps’ book, The Exit Optional Playbook: https://exitoptional.com Timecodes 00:00 — What Does It Mean to Be Wealthy? 01:19 — Why Mat Calls Himself a “Wealth Lawyer” 03:12 — There Is No Single Path to Wealth 06:06 — Becoming a Father and Husband at 18 09:20 — Why Mat Chose Law and Entrepreneurship 12:08 — Discovering Self-Directed IRAs 15:25 — Building Directed IRA 18:03 — Why Wealthy Investors Favor Alternative Assets 21:20 — Staying Closer to Your Money 23:48 — Who Is a Good Fit for Self-Directed Investing? 26:34 — Control Requires Education and Due Diligence 28:54 — Why the Best Investors Specialize 30:18 — Tax Strategy, Asset Protection, and Estate Planning 32:21 — How to Connect With Mat and Directed IRA

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  Episode #24

  When Success Outruns Your Body: The Hidden Health Crisis Facing High Achievers - Ep24 Steve Adams

  Jul 20, 202625 min

  “Normal isn’t optimal”. What if the exhaustion, brain fog, poor sleep, anxiety, and declining energy you have learned to tolerate are not simply the price of getting older? In this episode, Steve Adam’s joins David to reveal the hidden health crisis facing many high-achieving men: they remain productive enough to keep performing while their health quietly moves from optimal to functional, dysfunctional, and eventually diseased. For entrepreneur Steve Adams, the warning signs became impossible to ignore. After years of building and scaling companies, he found himself waking at 1:00 a.m., unable to sleep, physically depleted, and reacting in ways that no longer felt like him. His success had outrun his body. Together, they discuss why “normal” lab results can offer false reassurance, why isolated biohacks and quick fixes often fail, and frameworks to address the deeper foundations of health. But this conversation is about more than living longer. It is about having the energy, clarity, and physical capacity to remain present for your family, pursue meaningful work, and fully inhabit the next chapter of your life. Because building the financial freedom to choose what comes next means very little if your health no longer allows you to choose it. Episode Links: Learn more about Tiger Medical - https://www.tigermi.com/ Get David Phelps' Exit Optional Playbook - https://exitoptional.com Timecodes: 00:00 – The Hidden Health Crisis 01:57 – Steve's Wake-Up Call 05:01 – Why High Achievers Ignore the Signs 07:49 – Normal Isn't Optimal 11:10 – Taking Ownership of Your Health 15:12 – The Three P Framework 18:47 – Biohacking vs Root Cause Medicine 20:20 – Why Purpose Extends Life 22:29 – Your Next Chapter Starts With Health 23:25 – Final Takeaways

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  The Freedom Founders Podcast

  The Great Filtering: Risk, Trust & the Return of Fundamentals - Ep 23 Scott Corbett

  Jul 13, 202643 min

  Most investment mistakes don't begin with bad spreadsheets. They begin with bad psychology. Scott Corbett has spent decades working behind the scenes with real estate operators, capital raisers, and entrepreneurs. In this conversation with Dr. David Phelps, he shares what he's learned about evaluating trust, managing risk, and why the best investment decisions often have more to do with character than projections. The discussion moves beyond investing into something every successful business owner eventually faces: identity. Scott opens up about his own decision to step away from the business he spent twenty years building, the unexpected emotions that came with that transition, and why many entrepreneurs struggle to give themselves permission to imagine a different next chapter. Whether you're evaluating investment opportunities, preparing for an eventual exit, or simply trying to build a life with more intentionality, this episode offers practical wisdom on making decisions that extend well beyond money. EPISODE LINKS: Connect with Scott Corbett: https://scottcorbett.com Scott on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottcorbett/ Get David's book, The Exit Optional Playbook : https://exitoptional.com Time Codes: 00:00 — Why Better Investors Ask Better Questions 04:11 — How Sophisticated LPs Have Changed 10:32 — Why Marketing Has Shifted from Returns to Risk 17:03 — What Great Operators Have in Common 21:01 — Can You Actually Measure Character? 26:40 — When Success Becomes an Identity Trap 30:32 — Giving Yourself Permission to Enter a New Season 33:10 — Breaking Through Major Life Decisions 36:02 — Why Every Entrepreneur Needs Trusted Advisors 37:48 — The Hidden Cost of Carrying All the Responsibility 40:08 — Writing the Story of Your Next Chapter

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