What happens when a blue-collar kid from South Jersey transforms into a business-scaling expert? In this episode of CEOs Unscripted, host Jane Gentry sits down with her longtime mentor and business partner Pat Alacqua to uncover the raw truth about entrepreneurial growth, leadership transformation, and the psychological barriers that keep founders stuck.
Pat shares his remarkable journey from working at his grandfather's grocery store to co-founding and scaling a trade show services company (The Nth Degree) into an international operation before successfully exiting in 2001. But this isn't just a success story—it's a masterclass in the messy, challenging reality of business growth.
What You'll Learn:
- The critical psychological shift from "doer" to leader and why most entrepreneurs struggle with it
- How to manage your business by assumptions instead of budgets or checklists
- The five distinct phases every company must navigate from startup to enterprise
- Why spawning competitor companies from your best employees isn't always bad
- The importance of having "one foot in the present and one foot in the future"
- Practical strategies for identifying and addressing blind spots in your leadership.
Key Insights:
✓ The three psychological barriers preventing delegation: identity, control, and validation
✓ Why "what got you here won't get you there" applies to every growth stage
✓ How to earn the right to keep things simple by first understanding complexity
✓ The power of assumption-based planning in uncertain markets
✓ Why asking the right questions matters more than having all the answers
Whether you're a mid-market CEO navigating growth challenges, an entrepreneur struggling to scale, or a business leader looking to avoid common pitfalls, this conversation delivers actionable frameworks you can implement immediately.
Book: Obstacles to Opportunity: Transforming Business Challenges into Triumphs https://tinyurl.com/5fr8fhy2
About the Guest: Pat Alacqua is a business growth strategist with over 40 years of experience building, scaling, and exiting companies. After co-founding and growing a trade show services company from startup to international operation, Pat now partners with CEOs to help them navigate the complex transitions from entrepreneur to enterprise leader.
About the Host: Jane Gentry brings 20+ years of enterprise consulting experience and firsthand CEO leadership to CEOs Unscripted, creating a space where mid-market leaders share unfiltered stories, practical playbooks, and hard-won wisdom.
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💬 Join the Conversation: What's your biggest challenge in transitioning from doer to leader? Share in the comments below.
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction: Meet Pat Alacqua
03:15 - Growing up in small business: Early influences and work ethic
07:42 - From concrete business to trade shows: The entrepreneurial journey 12:30 - Navigating union labor and legal battles while scaling
16:45 - Building systems and the art of working ON vs. IN your business 21:20 - The painful reality of becoming the bottleneck in your own business 25:10 - Three psychological barriers to delegation: Identity, control, and validation
30:15 - Understanding business life cycles and the entrepreneur-to-enterprise journey
35:40 - The five phases of business growth every CEO must master
40:25 - Managing by assumptions vs. managing by budgets
45:30 - Solving root cause problems instead of applying band-aids
48:50 - Modeling leadership behavior and developing your team
52:15 - The importance of blind spots and continuous learning
56:40 - Earning the right to keep things simple
01:00:20 - The science and art of building effective systems
01:03:45 - Rapid fire questions: Books, early lessons, and advice for young professionals
01:08:30 - What to do when you get stuck as a leader
01:11:15 - Closing thoughts and key takeaways
Tags #CEOsUnscripted #BusinessGrowth #LeadershipDevelopment #Entrepreneurship #ScalingBusiness #MidMarketCEO #BusinessStrategy #LeadershipTransformation #BusinessSystems #CEOPodcast #BusinessPodcast #ExecutiveLeadership #BusinessScaling #DelegationSkills #BusinessProcesses #StrategicLeadership #CompanyGrowth #BusinessMentor #EntrepreneurialGrowth #LeadershipMindset #BusinessLifeCycle #BusinessExit #SmallBusinessGrowth #MidMarketLeaders
CEOs Unscripted is a bi-weekly podcast by mid-market CEOs for mid-market CEOs, delivering unfiltered conversations about what it takes to lead, grow, and scale in today's business landscape.