In this rapid‑fire interview, Professor Pete Alexander asks six concise questions of Don Markland, founder of the business‑coaching firm Accountability Now. Markland explains his mission to help ideas grow from a napkin sketch to $10 million enterprises, emphasizing that success comes from collaboration rather than the myth of the lone entrepreneur. He highlights the importance of simply showing up, creating momentum, and using an accountability partner or coach to accelerate growth—citing a UPS study that 70 % of coached businesses outperform those without coaching. Markland recommends fellow coach Konstantin Stolyanov of 411 Locals for digital‑marketing mentorship. He shares a formative personal story about being fired as a teenage lead waiter, learning that how you say goodbye matters more than a first impression. The episode concludes with Markland directing listeners to his website, a free ebook on the Four C’s of Accountability, and an affordable $7‑a‑month online coaching program.
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This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1: In a few sentences, please tell me who you are and what you do.
My name is Don Markland, and I'm the founder of Accountability Now. We're a business coaching firm that helps businesses, but between napkin and $10 million. So if it's on the napkin as an idea or you're trying to grow it, we'll get you there. That's what we do better than anybody else in the world.
Well, Don, it's an absolute pleasure to have you on the show. And I love that analogy with the napkin because there's so many ideas that I remember writing myself back in the day. So that really resonated with me. Yeah. Question number 2, what is something that makes you smile and/or laugh about working in your industry?
I love, and this makes me laugh, is there's this Western civilization mentality of I have to do it alone. That's what every entrepreneur does. And every successful entrepreneur never did it alone. They always worked with other people, but we're built with this mentality of if I'm going to bootstrap it, that means no one can ever help me ever. And once we learn that, we actually can succeed almost 10 times faster.
And I couldn't agree with you more. It's, it's just, I think that's part of being an entrepreneur, is that just you have to think that you have to do it by yourself when, uh, success is there with, uh, with the help and mentorship of others. So it's a— that's great to see that you're smiling about that and laughing. Question number 3: I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business. What chapter would you think most companies should read?
Uh, you always The first domino, you have to read the first chapter, getting started, showing up is half the battle. And if I would just tell business owners, read the first chapter, get started, get inspired and move. Action being your default response causes so many positive things to happen in your life.
That's very insightful. And yeah, I agree with you. I mean, even if it's just one little thing to move you in that direction that you want to go, that's that forward momentum. Am I right?
That's absolutely right. Right. You want to create momentum in your life and it starts with just showing up. If you're in the blues or you're struggling, just get up, go do something, just start and watch what happens.
Love it. Love it. Very motivational. Question number 4. Other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude and care for customers, what advice or insight would you give to other business leaders?
The number one thing I did in growing my business was I started to work with a coach. Now, I know I'm— that's something I'm promoting myself, and I am the greatest business coach on planet Earth, but you can work with anybody. The point is you have to have an accountability partner, especially if you're an owner or an entrepreneur. Who can I look at in the eye and be accountable to? And it will accelerate what you do every single time.
I couldn't agree more. Yeah, I mean, it's when the accountability is so critical because I know for me as an individual, it's easier for me to slack on something if I'm just saying, okay, I could do that tomorrow. When if you have somebody who's holding you accountable and you said you're going to do it today, then you're much more likely to actually do it. Am I right?
That's absolutely right. UPS did a study a number of years ago where they showed that 70% of businesses that had hired a coach outperformed those that didn't dramatically. Right. And so it, I mean, it's a, as the SBA talks about, it's a game changer finding the right business coach. Will accelerate what you do.
Mm-hmm, absolutely. That's great, great insight. Thank you. Question number 5, what other business leader like yourself would you like to acknowledge and invite to be on my podcast?
The one I'd like to acknowledge is this person I work with at 411 Locals. He's one of the largest digital marketing agencies in the world. His name is Konstantin Stolyanov. Gives you a little bit of international flair to it, but he built his whole agency on the idea that Small business owners should have access to digital solutions at a cost they can afford. And I work with him a lot on the sales and marketing efforts there, but he just continues to be a mentor on business growth and for not only myself, but thousands of others.
Mm, he sounds like a great person to interview. Thank you so much for that referral. And our final question, question number 6, please tell me about your first job.
My first job, I was the lead waiter at Lisa's Country Kitchen in Nephi, Utah, the small little town where population was 4,000. And the reason I say I'm the lead waiter, because I was the only waiter, right? There was a couple of other people that worked there that were waitresses, but I was the lead waiter. And I loved that job because Lisa was this amazing boss. This is her little diner. And I ended up getting fired for that job, right? Because I was 14. I didn't do things right. And I did some terrible, terrible things. And she taught me, This thing has framed my whole life. That when I got fired, she had to let me go. It didn't ruin the relationship. She actually made the right decision for me. She said, I can't trust you here. I have to let you go. But we're still going to be friends. And she's continued to support me, my Forbes articles, everything for years, even though she fired me at 14. And it taught the lesson. How you say goodbye is more important than how you say hello. And that's— she really taught me that as a kid. And I've used it ever since.
Oh, what a great story. And I love that, you know, how to say goodbye is so much more important than how do you say hello? Because, you know, we hear about so much that, you know, the first impression is everything, but in this case, this is so much more powerful. I love that. And it's a great learning.
Business owners have to remember, sometimes people shouldn't be in your business. Sometimes they're dragging you down. So say goodbye in the right way. And you watch, it might come back. They might be referrals. They might start a podcast. They might do all these things that help you out.
Absolutely. It's great. Thank you for that. And Don, thanks so much for being on the show. How could people find you?
You can go to my site, accountabilitynow.net. You can get my ebook that talks about my Four C's of Accountability program. It's totally free. And if you can't afford business coaching, I have an online course which gives coaching to employees or owners. It's $7 a month. It's cheaper than Netflix, but it gives them access, ways to get in the right mindset and be successful every day.
Perfect. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Thanks for listening.
