10 Business and Leadership Lessons from Dr. Matt Fontaine, Author of “Only One Body“ Entrepreneurs spend enormous amounts of time thinking about financial capital, employees, technology, marketing, operations, and strategy. But every business decision depends on another asset—one that leaders often neglect until it begins to fail. Their own physical and mental capacity. In Episode 002
Ten Business Lessons from The Lionheart Podcast Episode 001 with John Fendt of PlyRockNation Entrepreneurial lessons do not only come from boardrooms, business schools, or billion-dollar companies.Sometimes they come from a creator working late at night, building an audience one interaction at a time while also managing a demanding career and raising a family. In
At Lionheart, we believe one habit consistently separates successful entrepreneurs from the rest: they read.
Reading is more than a pastime — it’s a powerful tool for growth. The right book can shift your mindset, spark innovation, and introduce you to groundbreaking strategies and influential thinkers who are shaping the future of business.
The founders of Lionheart are committed lifelong learners, constantly diving into books that challenge our thinking, fuel our creativity, and deliver real-world value to our clients. Through the Lionheart Book Club, we’re excited to share these insights with you.
Here, you’ll find curated recommendations from our team — titles that have made an impact on our journey and that we believe will elevate yours. Each book includes a brief overview, highlighted themes, and practical takeaways to help you decide what’s most relevant to your goals as a business leader or entrepreneur.
New books will be added regularly, and select titles may also be featured in Lionheart Den member forums or blogs, where we explore why they matter and how to apply their lessons in today’s competitive landscape.
Membership to the Lionheart Den is currently available at a special introductory rate — and with the Lionheart Book Club launching soon, now is the perfect time to join and be among the first to access this great new resource.
Paul R. Gelinas
Paul R. Gelinas is the Chief Revenue Officer at Vital Payroll Advisors, bringing over two decades of experience in driving revenue growth and fostering client relationships. Throughout his career, Paul has been recognized for his strategic vision and ability to lead high-performing teams across various industries.
Paul’s professional journey encompasses a diverse range of roles that have honed his expertise in sales, marketing, and business development. His collaborative approach and commitment to excellence have consistently resulted in the successful execution of complex projects and the achievement of organizational objectives.
In addition to his corporate endeavors, Paul is dedicated to mentoring emerging entrepreneurs and professionals. He actively engages in knowledge sharing and networking, offering guidance and support to those navigating the complexities of business growth and development.
Paul’s multifaceted background and unwavering dedication to fostering innovation and collaboration make him a valuable asset to the Lionheart community. His insights and experiences serve as an inspiration to fellow members, encouraging them to pursue their entrepreneurial ambitions with confidence and determination.
Thomas Fleury is the Founder and Principal of Executive Management & Business Care, LLC – a small business advisory service founded in 2003. Tom is well known for his ability to “see and solve problems before they happen” which has helped him resolve myriads of business process issues, identify unique marketing positions and help bring new start-up businesses to market.
Over his corporate career, Tom has effectively re-engineered many service organizations and implemented world class service operations in the restaurant and insurance industries. Coming from a humble background and working to pay his own way he earned a degree in Finance as a commuter at the University of Connecticut, Tom knows how to build something from square one and with minimal investment. He started several small companies in business consulting, IT software and continues today as a facilitator of small business advisory, peer-to-peer groups under Lionheart. His expertise focuses on staffing, expense management, marketing and establishing a business’s unique marketing identity. Tom knows what a customer looks like for virtually every business who seeks to find the right set for their enterprises. He obtained an MBA from the University of Connecticut via their inaugural Executive Program class in 1992. Past experiences include playing clarinet (first chair all New England H.S. band and playing once in an ensemble with the Boston Pops), sports (soccer, basketball, baseball and softball) and success with investing. His ability to talk to almost anyone about anything has created a plethora of trusted and vetted resources for small businesses.
Robert “Rob” Kwasnicki is an enterprise operations executive, investor, and advisor with more than two decades of experience spanning Customer Success, Professional Services, business operations, technology, sales, and marketing. He helps organizations turn strategy into repeatable execution by aligning people, processes, capacity, and customer outcomes.
Throughout his career, Rob has worked with business owners, senior executives, and cross-functional teams across organizations of varying sizes. His experience includes developing scalable delivery practices, improving operational visibility, strengthening customer adoption and retention, and helping teams anticipate capacity, performance, and customer risks before they limit growth.
Rob is also the Founder and Managing Member of Digital Marketing Partner, where he leads client relationships and marketing programs. He combines strategic thinking, creative problem-solving, and disciplined project leadership to translate business objectives into practical marketing initiatives. His approach begins with understanding the client’s organization, audience, resources, and goals before recommending a strategy or solution.
As a co-founder of Lionheart Founders Group, Rob brings together the operating discipline of an enterprise executive and the hands-on perspective of a business owner. He contributes practical insight on customer experience, service delivery, marketing, technology, operational efficiency, and responsible uses of artificial intelligence. His goal is to help Lionheart members make better-informed decisions, build stronger systems, and pursue growth without losing sight of their customers or the people doing the work.
Rob is a co-author of Achieving Success as a Business Owner: Become a Lionheartand host of The Lionheart Podcast, where he speaks with entrepreneurs, authors, and business leaders about the experiences and lessons behind sustainable success.
Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs and business leaders gave Rob an early appreciation for both the opportunities and pressures of business ownership and leadership. That perspective continues to shape his belief that owners benefit from candid conversations, trustworthy peers, and access to people who understand the realities of building and leading a business.
Rob’s professional philosophy is grounded in trust, transparency, practical execution, and shared success. Through Lionheart, he helps create an environment where entrepreneurs and business leaders can exchange experience, challenge assumptions, solve problems, and move forward with greater clarity and confidence.
Rob invites passionate entrepreneurs and business leaders to join the Lionheart Den, where they can gain exclusive insights, strategic guidance, and a powerful network to accelerate their journey to success.
Thompson Stimpel is the Founder & Managing Director of Proactive Business Improvements, LLC – a global business advisory group founded in 2002. As a transformational leader with more than 40 years of multi-product, multi-market, multi-national experience, Thom is acknowledged for his unique ability to convert “strategic concepts” into “operational realities”.
His ability to relate to and communicate effectively with a wide array of businesses stems from his unusually vast experience in a very broad set of businesses, vocations, organizations and roles. Thom has restructured global trade organizations, developed systems integration project management methodologies, overseen new product development teams, controlled the assets of a multi-million-dollar tech company, worked with the International Olympic Committee, and reengineered distribution processes for aerospace subcontractors. He’s also enjoyed success in more routine jobs – over 40 in all – like production planning and warehouse control systems, working in and supervising staff at fine dining restaurants, designing, implementing and managing ISO 9000 Quality Management Systems for manufacturers, selling insurance and investment products, driving a truck, building houses, and working on a cattle ranch. He jokes that being a cowboy was his favorite job, even though it only paid a dollar an hour and two meals a day. But his most bizarre job was working at a multi-faceted rural funeral home where he drove an ambulance and carved tombstones … a combination of roles which he teased his boss about being a potential conflict of interest.
Highly successful entrepreneurs realize two important factors:
Being a business owner can be lonely and frustrating when there is no “qualified” person to discuss ideas and issues with, and
No one individual has all the skills necessary to succeed!
But there is a simple and elegant solution to this dilemma … Peer Groups!
Peer review boards are comprised of small teams of entrepreneurs, from non-competing businesses, who meet regularly to discuss strategies, plans, problems and progress. They share their expertise, discuss insights, make recommendations and support each other with ideas, experiences, encouragement, data and accountability.
Each group is led by a highly skilled and experienced business advisor who leads discussions, helps extract ideas and inspiration, and remains available throughout the month for quick questions, guidance and one-on-one discussions. Each member signs privacy and non-compete agreements so that discussions can be in depth, private and extremely beneficial. And the cost to join one of our Lionheart teams is a fraction of what the typical Roundtable or Mastermind group charges for monthly membership.
Paul R. Gelinas is the Chief Revenue Officer at Vital Payroll Advisors, bringing over two decades of experience in driving revenue growth and fostering client relationships. Throughout his career, Paul has been recognized for his strategic vision and ability to lead high-performing teams across various industries.
Thompson Stimpel is the Founder & Managing Director of Proactive Business Improvements, LLC – a global business advisory group founded in 2002. As a transformational leader with more than 40 years of multi-product, multi-market, multi-national experience, Thom is acknowledged for his unique ability to convert “strategic concepts” into “operational realities”.
