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What Success Really Costs:Dr. Craig Cooke on Leadership, Growth, and Balance - Episode 64
Published 1 month, 1 week ago
Description
Building a successful business doesn’t automatically mean you’re building a sustainable life.
My guest today built, scaled, and exited a company, but along the way, he discovered that success can come with a hidden cost most entrepreneurs don’t talk about. My guest today, Craig Cooke, knows that firsthand.
Craig is a serial entrepreneur who built and scaled a digital agency through years of growth, pressure, and complexity, eventually leading to a successful exit.
On paper, it’s the kind of story many founders aspire to. But as we often talk about on this show, the real lessons of entrepreneurship usually live beneath the surface.
In the first segment of this episode, Craig and I talk about his entrepreneurial journey, the early struggles, the realities of scaling a company, leadership mistakes, and what it’s really like to step away from a business you’ve built.
In the second segment, we explore what came next. Craig has become a strong advocate for conscious leadership and has embraced practices like Qigong, which he credits with helping him better manage stress, gain clarity, and rethink how entrepreneurs define performance and success.
We discuss how that perspective shaped what he now calls Business Kung Fu, and what practical takeaways business owners can apply, even if they’ve never heard of Qigong before.
If you’re an entrepreneur navigating growth, burnout, or the question of what success is costing you, this conversation with Craig offers a thoughtful and honest perspective.
Craig's Company:
Dr. Craig Cooke
https://craigcooke.com
My guest today built, scaled, and exited a company, but along the way, he discovered that success can come with a hidden cost most entrepreneurs don’t talk about. My guest today, Craig Cooke, knows that firsthand.
Craig is a serial entrepreneur who built and scaled a digital agency through years of growth, pressure, and complexity, eventually leading to a successful exit.
On paper, it’s the kind of story many founders aspire to. But as we often talk about on this show, the real lessons of entrepreneurship usually live beneath the surface.
In the first segment of this episode, Craig and I talk about his entrepreneurial journey, the early struggles, the realities of scaling a company, leadership mistakes, and what it’s really like to step away from a business you’ve built.
In the second segment, we explore what came next. Craig has become a strong advocate for conscious leadership and has embraced practices like Qigong, which he credits with helping him better manage stress, gain clarity, and rethink how entrepreneurs define performance and success.
We discuss how that perspective shaped what he now calls Business Kung Fu, and what practical takeaways business owners can apply, even if they’ve never heard of Qigong before.
If you’re an entrepreneur navigating growth, burnout, or the question of what success is costing you, this conversation with Craig offers a thoughtful and honest perspective.
Craig's Company:
Dr. Craig Cooke
https://craigcooke.com