In this special mid-year episode of Your Customer, Your Success, Gary looks back at the first half of 2026 and revisits the ten best moments from two of the show’s signature segments: Does It Hold Water and Chip Shots.
Does It Hold Water is the segment where Gary tests a piece of thought leadership against a guest who has never seen it in advance. The setup produces some of the most honest conversations on the show, and it delivered again this year on feedback, structure, empathy, business modeling, and the difference between joy and happiness.
Chip Shots is the shorter form segment, a rotating set of professional questions with a personal edge. The answers this year covered the book that changed how one guest communicates, the line between a real risk and a terrible idea, an underrated travel destination, the risk of putting your ideas into the world, and the one question that changes the tone of any meeting.
Nine guests. Ten clips. One question running through all of it:
What actually holds up when leaders make decisions about their people, their clients, and their businesses?
This episode reinforces the core principles of the show:
Client focus is a growth strategy.
Leadership behavior drives revenue.
Operational clarity drives scale.
If you have been listening this year, this is a compressed dose of what the best guests have said. If you are new to the show, this is the best possible entry point.
What You’ll Learn
- Whether leaders really want honest feedback, and what that means for culture
- Why structure and documentation create the freedom to deliver great experiences
- Where empathy gets misused, and how it connects to accountability
- What business lessons hide inside how a global artist runs her enterprise
- The difference between joy and happiness, and why it matters for leaders
- Why saying less is often the harder discipline
- How to tell a real risk apart from a terrible idea
- An underrated travel destination worth putting on the list
- Why putting your ideas into the world is a professional risk worth taking
- The one question that changes the tone of any meeting
Segments
Introduction
Does It Hold Water, 5th Place
Does It Hold Water, 4th Place
Does It Hold Water, 3rd Place
Does It Hold Water, 2nd Place
Does It Hold Water, 1st Place
Chip Shots, 5th Place
Chip Shots, 4th Place
Chip Shots, 3rd Place
Chip Shots, 2nd Place
Chip Shots, 1st Place
Closing Thoughts
Featured Guests (alphabetical)
Laurie Fainer, Alex Grant, Sid Meadows, Jessica Millhiser, Ali Ramer, John Sampogna, Katie Stabler, Dannah Vaughan, Kris Wauters
🔗 Connect with Gary Marra
· LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-marra/
· Schooley Mitchell: https://www.schooleymitchell.com/gmarra
· YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@yourcustomeryoursuccesspodcast
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ABOUT YOUR CUSTOMER, YOUR SUCCESS
Your Customer, Your Success is a leadership and business growth podcast focused on the idea that client focus is not just a service philosophy, it is a growth strategy. Hosted by Gary Marra, the show sits at the intersection of customer experience, employee experience, leadership, and operational discipline. Each episode features practical conversations with executives, advisors, and business leaders on how better experiences drive loyalty, trust, retention, and sustainable business growth. Now heard in 70 countries.
ABOUT GARY MARRA
Gary Marra is a Schooley Mitchell Franchise Owner and the host of Your Customer, Your Success. Drawing on deep experience in financial services, client management, operations, and cross-functional leadership, Gary helps organizations think more clearly about how service, trust, and execution shape growth. His perspective combines customer-centric strategy with practical business discipline, making the show especially relevant for founders, operators, and leaders responsible for long-term client relationships.
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