Ryan Redding is the founder of Eightfold Advantage, where he helps business owners break through growth plateaus, build stronger leadership teams, and create companies that do not depend on the owner for every decision. After building and successfully selling his digital marketing agency, Leverage, Ryan now works with leaders who want to scale sustainably while creating businesses that support their lives rather than consume them.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [04:15] How Ryan grew a digital marketing agency from a side hustle into a successful acquisition.
- [06:00] Why AI allowed his company to reduce headcount while increasing talent quality.
- [08:00] How empowering employees to experiment with AI accelerated innovation.
- [15:30] Why accountability remains one of the most important functions of coaching.
- [19:00] Why business growth is ultimately limited by leadership growth
In this episode:
AI is changing how businesses operate—but according to Ryan Redding, leadership remains the ultimate competitive advantage.
In this episode, Adi Klevit interviews Ryan Redding, founder of Eightfold Advantage and former owner of Leverage, about his entrepreneurial journey from building a side hustle to growing, scaling, and successfully selling a digital marketing agency. Ryan shares how he transformed Leverage from a one-person operation into a global agency serving clients across North America, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
Adi and Ryan dive deeply into the impact of AI on modern businesses. Ryan explains how his team embraced AI early, empowering employees to experiment with new tools and identify opportunities to improve efficiency. Rather than viewing AI as a threat, the company leveraged it to eliminate repetitive tasks, improve productivity, and allow team members to focus on higher-value work that required creativity, strategy, and human connection.
The conversation also explores why AI cannot replace leadership. While technology can provide information, automate workflows, and accelerate analysis, Ryan argues that the biggest challenges in business are still human challenges. Accountability, communication, culture, trust, and leadership development remain areas where people—not technology—drive outcomes.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway is that sustainable growth starts with the owner. Ryan explains that businesses often become trapped when leaders try to control every decision and solve every problem themselves. By investing in people, building strong systems, and creating accountability, business owners can build organizations that grow without requiring constant personal sacrifice.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Adi Klevit on LinkedIn
- Business Success Consulting Group
- Ryan Redding on LinkedIn
- Eightfold Advantage
- Dr. Jeremy Weisz on LinkedIn
Quotable Moments:
- “AI is probably the sharpest axe the world has ever known.”
- “Marketing agencies won’t be killed by AI, but agencies that know how to use AI will outperform those that don’t.”
- “The hardest problems in business are still human problems.”
- “When the people grow, the company grows.”
- “Build a business that serves your life instead of trapping it.
Action Steps:
- Identify repetitive tasks that can be improved or automated through AI.
- Encourage team members to experiment with new tools and share their discoveries.
- Focus leadership development efforts on accountability, communication, and trust.
- Create systems that reduce owner dependency and empower department leaders.
- Invest in personal growth, recognizing that your business can only grow as much as you do
Sponsor for this episode:
This episode is brought to you by Business Success Consulting Group.
At Business Success Consulting Group, we create custom processes and tailor-made management systems so businesses can thrive.
Businesses simply can’t survive without workable systems and well-documented processes. That’s why our team of experienced professionals takes care of it for you.
We provide business owners, entrepreneurs, and key executives with six phases to success, along with the long-lasting systems necessary to support business expansion.
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