Gratitude Through Hard Times

"I don't live well in the box because the box is not made for entrepreneurs." In a world obsessed with digital efficiency and quick fixes, the real currency of a meaningful life remains independent thought, presence, and intentional effort.

In this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times, Colleen Joyce, CEO of Lawyer.com, breaks down why community is the new competition and how proactive resilience drives real growth. From starting in a green, part-time role to rising to CEO, Colleen shares key lessons from her mentor Gerry Gorman on leading with heart, leaning into an unstructured life, and surrounding yourself with people who challenge you to build something bigger than yourself.

10 Memorable Quotes:

"I don't live well in the box because the box is not made for entrepreneurs."

"In the world, a lot of luck matters."

"Community is the new competition."

"We suffer more in imagination than in reality."

"You can't connect the dots looking forward, but you can only connect the dots looking backwards."

"I lead with love, and it's kind of weird to say that in a business setting, but I truly care."

"I'd rather have a small piece of a big pie than a big piece of a small pie."

"There's no value in what's been said. There's only value in what's been unsaid."

"Wisdom can't just be taught. It must be earned by getting through hard times."

"Progress over perfection."

 

10 Key Takeaways:

Betting on the Non-Linear Path: How saying "yes" to a part-time opportunity without a traditional corporate roadmap opened the door to building an eight-figure powerhouse.

Inquisitive Empathy and Radical Candor: Balancing deep care for team members with the accountability needed to deliver direct, honest performance feedback.

Competition as Collaboration: Embracing aspirational competitors, learning from industry adversaries, and bringing competing voices together to elevate the entire ecosystem.

The "Give Maxing" Philosophy: Countering isolation and hardship by gathering people, asking thoughtful questions, and actively extending gratitude.

The Trap of Jevons Paradox: Recognizing that time saved by AI tools often gets swallowed by routine busyness unless leaders intentionally reallocate it toward human connection.

Unlocking Untapped Potential: Pushing past comfortable boundaries to help team members tap into their unsaid thoughts and internal genius.

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: Accepting that leading through rapid industry changes requires living in the present while continuously learning as technology evolves.

Surrendering Control to Foster Growth: Giving up micro-management to allow team members the freedom to make mistakes, learn, and step into leadership roles.

The Power of Intentional Disconnection: Practicing small daily habits—like stepping away from digital devices—to remain fully present for family and community.

Abundance Mindset vs. Scarcity: Rejecting the idea that success is a zero-sum game, choosing instead to build partnerships that lift all participants faster.

About our Guest:

Colleen Joyce is the CEO of Lawyer.com, the #1 U.S. lawyer matching service and online legal directory. Over the past decade, she has helped transform Lawyer.com from a simple concept into an eight-figure legal powerhouse, growing the company's revenue by more than 20% in 2024 alone. She rose to the CEO seat by way of Senior Vice President of Lawyer Services and then President, and today leads the strategy, technology, and partnerships that connect consumers with qualified attorneys across every practice area and jurisdiction in the country.

Colleen is also the Co-Founder of the Lawyer Growth Summit, a national conference that brings attorneys, legal technologists, and industry thought leaders together to share the strategies driving real growth in modern law firms. She is a sought-after keynote speaker, mentor, and podcast host, and her leadership has been featured in Authority Magazine's "Female Disruptors" and "Leading with Heart" series and recognized by Marquis Who's Who. Before her legal-industry career, she served as Director of Marketing and Publicity at PopStar.com (a subsidiary of World Media Group), producing celebrity content for a global audience and covering red carpets, press junkets, and awards shows.

Colleen holds a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences from the University of Illinois, where she graduated magna cum laude. She is based in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, and describes herself first and foremost as a proud mama. Her guiding mantra: progress over perfection.

Philosophical Hook

We often treat professional drive, relentless intensity, and self-reliance as badges of honor. But what happens when our greatest leadership strengths are actually walls we built to hide our deepest pain?

In this powerful episode, Chris Schembra sits down with leadership coach and author Tyler Dickerhoof to discuss his new book, The Things We Hide. Tyler opens up about the tragic childhood loss of his younger brother, Joel, and how that single event led him to build a 25-year defensive wall of extreme intensity. Together, they explore how to break through the four walls of insecurity—intensity, inactivity, insensitivity, and isolation—to transition from a defensive, lonely "bulldozer" into a truly connected, impact-driven leader.

 

10 Memorable Quotes

"My brother had died and it was an accident. I was fourteen and Joel was three." — Tyler Dickerhoof

"Where we get in trouble is when we start to depict other people's interpretation of value as our own. And that's where everything goes awry." — Tyler Dickerhoof

"I don't tell that story because I don't think it has value. I didn't understand that that manifestation of hiding those things was creating a barrier in my ability to connect." — Tyler Dickerhoof

"Instead of it showing up at the bottom of a bottle or drugs... it was my intensity." — Tyler Dickerhoof

"Intensity is a bulldozer. A bulldozer will clear a path, but it's going to leave carnage. And in a human sense, that carnage is relationships." — Tyler Dickerhoof

"If you want to level some land, great, but I'm not gonna go hang out with you... because I was always on to the next thing." — Tyler Dickerhoof

"If leadership is lonely, you’re doing it wrong." — Tyler Dickerhoof

"I was marooned on an island because I thought I had to do it all... But I was the one that held the keys to the lifeboat." — Tyler Dickerhoof

"When we're looking in the mirror, it looks real good. But then someone sits across from us and says, 'Hey, your face is flipped around the other way.'" — Tyler Dickerhoof

"Too often we think impact is monumental... Joel was thirty-four months old when he died. His life made an impact." — Tyler Dickerhoof

 

10 Key Takeaways

The Shield of Intensity: Extreme drive and work ethic can often be subconscious survival mechanisms built to mask grief, trauma, or insecurity.

The "Bulldozer" Trap: While intensity clears paths and gets things done in business, it leaves a trail of damaged relationships if left unchecked.

The Valuation Crisis: Real security begins when you stop adopting external definitions of success and start grounding yourself in your intrinsic value.

The Four Walls of Insecurity: Leaders protect themselves through four distinct defensive mechanisms: Intensity, Inactivity, Insensitivity, and Isolation.

The Illusion of Lonely Leadership: Loneliness at the top is not an inevitable byproduct of leadership; it is a self-imposed prison created by our unwillingness to be vulnerable.

Windows vs. Mirrors: Leading effectively requires looking through a "window" to see how your actions affect others, rather than just looking in a "mirror" of your own intentions.

Tech-Enabled Isolation: In the age of AI, we must be careful not to use productivity tools to further isolate ourselves, but rather to buy back our time for genuine human connection.

The Power of the Round Table: High-level growth happens in layers when you surround yourself with a diverse group of peers who can pressure-test your perspectives.

The 5 R's of Mindset: Maintaining a healthy leadership attitude requires a daily cycle of Routine, Reset, Remember (or Not), Realistic alignment, and constant Repetition.

Redefining Impact: True, lasting impact isn't measured by scale or longevity, but by the depth of meaning we bring to the lives of those we touch.

About Our Guest

Tyler Dickerhoof is a keynote speaker, leadership coach, and host of The Tyler Dickerhoof Show. As the founder of Impact Driven Leader and developer of the Awaken the Leader Within framework, he helps executives and entrepreneurs grow in influence without losing their humanity. Tracing his leadership roots back to his agricultural upbringing, Tyler holds a degree from Cornell University and is based in Spokane, Washington. Learn more at tylerdickerhoof.com.

"In business, you're either moving forward or you're going backward. There's no treading water." This core philosophy, passed down from serial-entrepreneur parents, has driven Chris Burnham and his family to transform a single storage location into a multi-billion-dollar global enterprise. Yet, despite overseeing vast international real estate holdings, the heartbeat of the company remains rooted in humor, local family values, and an endless appetite for innovation.

In this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times, host Chris Schembra sits down with Chris Burnham, President of StorageMart, to discuss the human foundation behind exponential growth. Burnham reflects on his early career moves—from studying Japanese business dynamics in 1980s Tokyo to walking away from corporate commodity trading—and shares how embracing curiosity, family unity through high-stakes deals, and a signature dose of wit helped shape brands like Manhattan Mini Storage. Together, they explore what it takes to navigate business setbacks, empower the next generation, and raise true "Renaissance men" in a rapidly changing world.

10 Memorable Quotes:

"In business, you're either moving forward or you're going backward. There's no treading water."

"I realized that I had to do things for myself, and that maybe climbing the corporate ladder was not the career path for me."

"Ganbatte means go get it... attack, charge."

"If you ask me what one of my deepest fears are, it's retirement 'cause I'm not sure I can handle that."

"That feeling that you wake up in the morning and you can hardly wait to get to work—that's what keeps me going."

"We got on the airplane... and as I was leaving, I got a phone call: 'Deal's off.' We stopped off at a gas station, bought a 12-pack, and drank it on the way home, strategizing about what comes next."

"Laughter is one of the most essential parts of life... I try to find humor in everything."

"I don't have to invent anything. I just have to innovate what's there and make it the best it can be."

"I always go back to curiosity, 'cause that tells me that it's somebody who knows how to learn."

"I wanted them to be able to fight a battle on the front line, come home and write a sonnet, paint a picture, or climb a mountain."

10 Key Takeaways:

The Dreamer and the Realist Dynamic: How balancing big-picture curiosity with grounded realism creates the ideal environment for testing and executing ideas.

No Treading Water: Why staying static in business or personal life eventually leads to decline, and why navigating obstacles requires constant forward motion.

The 'Ganbatte' Mindset: Channeling the Japanese ethos of active drive and fierce determination when confronting major career turning points.

The Power of Family Wingmen: Relying on familial trust and unity during high-stakes business reversals rather than retreating into isolation.

Cheeky Brand Differentiation: How turning a dry, functional product into a memorable experience through bold, satirical local advertising builds massive brand equity.

Innovation Over Invention: Recognizing that long-term enterprise growth often comes from refining and elevating existing models rather than starting from scratch.

Curiosity Maxing as a Core Skill: Framing critical thinking, awareness, and reverse-engineering as essential human traits in an automated economy.

Proactive Resilience: Developing the mental agility and endurance needed to bounce back quickly when major deals fall through at the eleventh hour.

Wandering and Competitive Research: Understanding that true market intelligence comes from physically stepping into customer experiences and actively listening.

Raising Renaissance Leaders: Fostering multi-faceted capability in the next generation—combining hard work, intellectual depth, and artistic appreciation.

About Our Guest:

Chris Burnham is the President of StorageMart, the world’s largest privately and family-owned self-storage company. Over a 40-year family legacy in the self-storage industry, Burnham and his family have scaled the business from a single location to over 250 properties worldwide, overseeing more than $8 billion in real estate transactions. Known for preserving local, values-driven leadership while scaling exponentially, StorageMart’s footprint includes iconic regional brands such as New York City’s Manhattan Mini Storage.

A former Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year recipient, Chris studied agricultural economics and spent his early academic years studying Japanese business in Japan before working as a commodity trader at Cargill. He later rejoined his family business to help lead its global expansion. Dedicated to mentorship, customer satisfaction, and continuous innovation, Chris lives and works alongside multiple generations of the Burnham family.

"Those who can't do are good hype men for others." This simple principle serves as the heartbeat for a life dedicated to authentic human depth. In a world optimized for digital efficiency and "frictionless" convenience, the true currency of a meaningful life remains the unscalable power of independent thought, presence, and intentional effort.

In this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times, Chris Schembra explores the growing cultural movement of human connection, proactive resilience, and the universal language that unites us. Samantha Wolfson shares insights from her personal journey, including navigating a life-changing career evolution since moving to Amsterdam in 2017, executing intense top-tier tech launches at Wieden+Kennedy, and the long road to paying forward the lessons of grit and character learned from her father, Steven. Together, the conversation dives into how we show up for others, the power of surrounding ourselves with people who challenge us, and how leaning into creative outlets outside the boardroom can fundamentally alter our perspectives.

10 Memorable Quotes:

"He is the reason I have become a pit bull in some areas and can be very soft in others because I see that is how he can both engage and react to the people around him."

"Never did I think that could actually become such a quintessential part of my career."

"I want every woman that's coming to not know each other. Just bring a bottle of wine and I will cook the food."

"You don't have to trade a life that looks good on paper for a good life around the dinner table. It's an and, not or."

"The moment you stop is when you'll fall into the trap of thinking you can do it all by yourself."

"Growth starts at those points of like, 'Ooh, I don't know how I feel about that.'"

"Who's at the table is as important as who's not at the table."

"There's no value in what's been said. There's only value in what's being unsaid."

"Community is the hardest thing to build because there is, for the most part, not crazy financial gain behind it."

"Hard work breeds luck, and I definitely live by that."

10 Key Takeaways:

The Test of Truth Tellers: Why surrounding yourself with an executive team and community that pressure-tests your ideas is infinitely better than building an inner circle of enablers.

Six is the Gate: Understanding the tactical benefit of keeping meetings and gatherings to exactly six women so that everyone has an active voice, safety, and a real seat at the table.

The Transition from Analog to Digital: How navigating high-intensity tech rollouts like the Ray-Ban Meta glasses exposed the deep human exhaustion behind the corporate digital push.

Dismantling Structural Silos: Breaking away from transactional networking by designing spaces where professionals connect over shared human truths rather than industry metrics.

The "Three-Letter Word" Framework: Cultivating deep conversation by refusing to counter someone's story with your own anecdote, choosing instead to simply ask "why?" to uncover what is unsaid.

Grit at the Dinner Table: Reclaiming the narrative of hard work by looking to foundational role models, including Steven Wolfson's lessons on listening, character formation, and absolute abundance.

The Tyranny of the OR vs. The Genius of the AND: Learning that world-class leadership requires balancing binary traits, integrating logical business goals with emotional human connections.

Failing Fast with Guidance: Why moving forward through a community's hard times and "imperfect dinners" under strong internal resolve is the only real vehicle for long-term relational success.

The Core Value of Peer Review: Recognizing that even in an automated, AI-driven environment, verified human connection and peer-reviewed credibility remain irreplaceable.

Mudita and Pro-Social Gratitude: Shifting away from keeping score to actively finding joy in the achievements of others, which ultimately drives collective organizational momentum.

About our Guest:

Samantha (Sam) Wolfson is the founder of & the Table, a global dinner platform that brings ambitious women together around a shared meal. The platform operates on a distinct format: six women who have never met, three courses, one host-chosen theme, and a strict rule that everyone shows up completely alone. What began in 2022 as just five open spots at her Amsterdam apartment quickly went viral, drawing more than 500 applications in its very first open round. Today, & the Table has built a robust global presence, empowering more than 75 hosts in over 10 countries, spanning from Nigeria to Spain to Hungary.

A Philadelphia native, Sam studied Media, Culture, and Communications at New York University before launching into the music industry, where she spent years on the road producing branded sponsorships for major music festivals across Mexico, Australia, and beyond as an account manager at LiveStyle, Inc. After falling for Amsterdam during a work trip, she relocated there permanently in 2017 and transitioned into advertising. She served as an Account Director at world-class agencies Wieden + Kennedy and TBWA\NEBOKO, leading global campaigns for heavyweights like Airbnb, Samsung, Ray-Ban, and Adidas.

Before scaling & the Table into a full platform, she honed the concept as "Sam's Dinners"—her personal hosting practice designed to meet other women and build deep connections in a new city. Outside of her dinner platform, Sam is also the co-founder of the card game WHAT ARE THE ODDS, and frequently shares her insights as a speaker at events like the Self-Made Summit in the Netherlands. She currently lives in west Amsterdam with her partner and her dog.

"The best man on the floor is actually a woman." This simple principle serves as the heartbeat for a life dedicated to authentic human depth. In a world optimized for digital efficiency and "frictionless" convenience, the true currency of a meaningful life remains the unscalable power of independent thought, presence, and intentional effort.

In this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times, Philip Greer explores the growing cultural movement of human connection, proactive resilience, and the universal language that unites us. Philip shares insights from his personal journey, including navigating a life-changing career evolution since joining the firm in 2005 as a software engineer, building the company's first content management system, and the long road to paying forward the lessons of grit learned from his mother, Sherry. Together, the conversation dives into how we show up for others, the power of surrounding ourselves with people who challenge us, and how leaning into creative outlets outside the boardroom can fundamentally alter our perspectives.

10 Memorable Quotes:

"There was no position that was beneath her, but also no position was the ceiling."

"Sometimes they say no because systems are built that way, but that doesn't mean the answer is no."

"The bookkeeping of benefits is simple. It's all an expenditure. We give for the sake of giving. We do not keep score."

"I have so much belief that if we keep saying the bad ones, the good ones will come to the top."

"The more you congratulate others, the more they'll end up congratulating you."

"The best man is a woman, and it's her right there."

"Limitations are what created limitless belief."

"I want to be able to solve problems that people say can't be solved."

"We must step out of the Tyranny of the or and step into the genius of the and."

"Just go out there and congratulate some people today."

10 Key Takeaways:

The Test of Truth Tellers: Why surrounding yourself with an executive team and community that pressure-tests your ideas is infinitely better than building an inner circle of enablers.

Eight is the Gate: Understanding the tactical benefit of keeping meetings and task forces to eight people or less so that everyone has an active voice and a seat at the table.

The Transition from Analog to Digital: How leveraging a software engineering background allowed Philip to modernize a global data platform away from fax machines and phone calls.

Dismantling Structural Silos: The strict rule that task forces must pull from multiple departments—such as research, engineering, sales, and finance—to achieve true cross-pollination.

The "Tuesday Talks" Framework: Cultivating a transparent culture through monthly, small-group touchpoints that openly address what's working, what's failing, and high-level strategy.

Grit on the Factory Floor: Reclaiming the narrative of hard work by looking to foundational role models, including Philip's mother breaking barriers in military transit and heavy manufacturing.

The Tyranny of the OR vs. The Genius of the AND: Learning that world-class leadership requires balancing binary traits, integrating logical business goals with emotional human connections.

Failing Fast with Guidance: Why moving forward and making quick mistakes under strong mentorship is a better vehicle for success than remaining frozen by the fear of limits.

The Core Value of Peer Review: Recognizing that even in an automated, AI-driven environment, verified human connection and peer-reviewed credibility remain irreplaceable.

Mudita and Pro-Social Gratitude: Shifting away from keeping score to actively finding joy in the achievements of others, which ultimately drives collective organizational momentum.

About our Guest:

Phillip Greer is the CEO of Best Lawyers, the oldest and most respected peer-review resource for top talent in the legal profession. He has driven the company's continual evolution since joining in 2005, originally as a software engineer. By tapping into his engineering background, he built the company's first content management system and led the transition, in his own words, "from analog to digital." He was named President in 2013 and CEO in 2018.

Under Phil's leadership, Best Lawyers has solidified its reputation as a market leader and innovator, processing millions of peer-review votes each year and powering rankings that are syndicated by partner publications including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Handelsblatt in Germany, and the Australian Financial Review. He has led international expansion strategies that bring Best Lawyers recognition to attorneys and firms in markets including the United States, Canada, Australia, Spain, and Germany.

Phil is a graduate of Augusta University and is based in North Augusta, South Carolina. A lifelong musician, he writes and performs music with his family (most recently with his daughter) and is a frequent supporter of his son's musical theater and dance productions. His perspective on leadership and disruption has been featured in Authority Magazine's "Meet The Disruptors" series and on Gina Rubel's "On Record PR" podcast, where his episode was the #1 downloaded of 2023.