I Hope This Email Finds You Well
I Hope This Email Finds You Well is a business development podcast for professional services firms — accounting, law, consulting, architecture, engineering, construction, and financial services. Basically, if you have doer-sellers, this is for you.
Host Neil Barrow, founder of EnabledBD, sits down with the people who actually do the work: chief growth officers, business development directors, and the partners who learned to sell without ever planning to. Guests have come from Deloitte, RSM, Mintz, Norton Rose Fulbright, Winstead, Barnes & Thornburg, Armanino, Whitley Penn, and regional firms where the entire BD function is one person figuring it out.
Every episode opens with the Combo Meal — three business development takes in five minutes — then goes deep on how that person built a book, a team, or a function from nothing. The conversations cover hiring BD professionals, getting partners to participate, tracking referral sources, coaching versus training, and what actually produces a deal.
No frameworks for their own sake. Business development is a skill, not a personality trait – and these are the people who learned it.
All Episodes
How “Boring” BD Habits Lead to Homeruns
Chad Corley, Business Development Director at Armanino, on working backward from a $2M goal to a daily to-do list, the follow-up, and the CFO volume game.
Holding Yourself Accountable in BD
Abby Fuqua, VP of Business Development at Venturity, on 15-20 meetings a week, stepping back from management to drive revenue, and when in doubt, refer it out.
Transactional vs. Relationship Business Development
Erica Lappo, Head of Business Development at Barnes & Thornburg, on moving from payroll sales quotas to law firm origination and 15-20 meetings a week.
How the Queen of BD Dominates Her Market
Emily Ackerman, Director of Business Development at Bennett Thrasher, on staying famous in your market, tiering referral partners, and making LinkedIn work.
Stop Training Your Team, Start Coaching Them
Darryl Cross of Norton Rose Fulbright on the difference between training and coaching, the proficiency model, and why most firm BD programs stall.
Lean Into the Chaos – The BD Advice That Shaped His Entire Career
Chris Newman of Mintz on building BD systems across Cravath, Cooley, McDermott and Mintz — and why chaos is where business development professionals earn their seat.
Building a Legendary 30-Year BD Reputation
Tony Banks of RSM on thirty years of relationship-built business development — from a Waffle House pay phone to running the biggest room in Texas private equity.
A Mother & Daughter in BD: Bridging 25 Years of Industry Evolution
Kelly and Mali Krone — mother and daughter, 25 years apart in BD — on cold calling, fear, hiring for high motor, and what has and hasn’t changed.
Marketing in Business Development: How to Actually Drive Revenue
Tracy Kapteyn of Duffy Kruspodin on building a firm’s first pipeline, tracking where referrals come from, and using AI agents to remove partner friction.
The Art & Science of BD
Stacy Dreher of James Moore on why a great personality isn’t a sales strategy, how to know when a firm is ready for BD, and qualifying out early.
How to Build a Network When You Know No One
Alissa Kolm on moving to a new city with no network, joint drop-offs with referral partners, and building activity metrics that make quota take care of itself.
Guests
Kelly Krone — Vice President of Business Development, Deloitte
Mali Krone — Investor Relations, Level III Capital
Tony Banks — Regional Sales Leader, Private Equity, RSM
Chris Newman — Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer, Mintz
Darryl Cross — Chief Global Collaboration Officer, Norton Rose Fulbright
Tracy Kapteyn — Chief Growth Officer, Duffy Kruspodin
Stacy Dreher — Chief Growth Officer, James Moore & Co.
Alissa Kolm — Business Development Officer, Bank of Texas