The Legacy Builders Podcast · 2026-06-09 · 12 min
Key moments - from our scoring
Substance score
22 / 100
Five dimensions, 20 points each
Mario Gonzalez, owner of a dog training business, shares a cautionary tale about promoting employees too quickly without proving they're suited for the role. He brought on an exceptional dog trainer who showed strong technical skills but lacked the interpersonal abilities required for client-facing work - poor eye contact, low voice, minimal charisma. Rather than letting her prove herself in a management capacity, Gonzalez fast-tracked her to general manager, placed her on salary, and gave her operational responsibilities including scheduling and staff management. The decision backfired when she failed to inform him that a trainer was leaving until nine days' notice, citing she didn't think it was her place - despite the responsibility being explicitly in her job description. Gonzalez identifies his pattern of seeing potential in people and immediately elevating them without testing whether their core values align with company culture. He now recommends a six-month trial period before full promotion, emphasizing that you cannot coach someone into alignment if they fundamentally don't share your values. Business owners who struggle with delegation, promotions, and employee management will find concrete red flags to watch for.
Mario observed declining work ethic after switching her to salary (showing up less without being asked), the employee volunteering to skip work so other employees could get hours despite still being paid salary, dismissiveness when disagreeing with directions, and failure to come to work on low-volume days - all suggesting misalignment with company needs and values.
When confronted, the employee said she didn't think it was her place to tell him and that the departing trainer should have informed him directly, despite the fact that operations and scheduling responsibilities were explicitly in her general manager job description.
Mario regrets immediately switching her to salary without a trial period; he noticed that once she became salaried instead of hourly, her voluntary extra effort and willingness to show up without being asked stopped happening almost immediately.
Mario recommends doing a six-month trial period before giving a full promotion, allowing the employee to prove they're the right fit and that their values align with the company; only after graduation from the trial should they receive the title and full responsibilities.
As general manager responsible for operations, scheduling, and conflict management, she should have used the advance notice to start training a backup employee to cover gaps and prepare the schedule, rather than leaving Mario with only nine days to solve a staffing crisis.
Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.
The episode is almost entirely a single personal anecdote with a handful of obvious conclusions drawn at the end. The only actionable takeaway - use a trial period before a full promotion - is commonplace, and a significant portion of runtime is spent explaining basic concepts like how salary works.
I don't know if anybody knows how salary works, So basically, instead of you paying your customer an hourly wage, so they show up and they get paid $17 an hour, you kind of come up with how much you're going to pay them annually
I'd highly recommend, at least from my experience that you don't automatically promote somebody unless you know 110% they're the right fit for the role
The core thesis - don't promote people before they prove themselves - is one of the most repeated pieces of management advice in existence. There is no contrarian angle, no first-principles reasoning, and no novel framework offered; the episode essentially arrives at 'use a probationary period,' a decades-old HR standard.
you can't change somebody. Either they align with your core values or they don't.
Sometimes you have a spot to fill and you hire the first person that walks through the door
This is a solo monologue by a small dog-training business owner with roughly 18 months of operating history at a single location and a staff of two or three people; there is no guest. The experience base is narrow and the scale is minimal relative to the B2B operator audience.
I have been running my dog training business for, I'd say a year and a half out of the current building that I'm at
I'm your host, Mario Gonzalez
The episode does include concrete situational details - nine days notice, salary vs. hourly framing, under-ten-dogs threshold - but these are entirely anecdotal and confined to one micro-business scenario. There are no revenue figures, no broader data, and no external references or benchmarks.
we have nine days to try and figure out how we're going to fill in the gaps
if I have under 10 dogs, it doesn't make any sense to have more than two trainers
This is an unstructured solo monologue with no guest, no interviewer, and no challenging questions at any point. The host frequently trails off, restates the same complaint multiple times, and the episode ends without a substantive framework or synthesis - just a vague closing.
So yeah, I just wanted to share that experience. It has been a little irritating and disappointing.
So just wanted to share that story, figure out the red flags.
Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.
"I have this pattern where I see some good in somebody or I see potential, and then I automatically give them a role and not let them prove themselves." Mario Gonzalez opens up about a humbling and highly frustrating experience with the General Manager of his dog training business. After spending months coaching her on people skills and natural charisma, a series of operational blindspots and a hidden two-week notice left him back working inside the day-to-day business operations. In this episode, we discuss: Salary vs. Hourly Cracks: How a stable salary program can accidentally breed a "bare minimum" effort mindset. Peer Loyalty vs. Executive Responsibility: The boundary line a manager crosses when they value hiding information over operational scheduling. Managing the Slow Season: Why every single penny counts when dog counts drop under 10, and why a manager cannot give away double-dipped hours to protect employees' bills. The Six-Month Trial: Mario's blueprint for ensuring future promotions require graduated trial periods instead of immediate titles. Red flags do not disappear just because you want to see the best in someone.
Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.
Just because you think somebody is going to be a good manager or a leader or a good trainer, whatever it is, does not necessarily mean that they are a good fit for that role. I have learned the hard way. I have continuously made the mistake. And the reason I want to share this with everybody here is because I am not perfect.
A lot of us business owners, we go through trials, we go through situations, and we pay our fair share of stupid tax, like I always say. And this is kind of one of those situations. And it's not a horrible situation by any means, but it's gotten to a place where you see the misalignment. And I think that's huge.
So welcome to the Legacy Builders Podcast, where we're redefining generational wealth one story at a time. I'm your host, Mario Gonzalez. and let's get into it. So I have been running my dog training business for, I'd say a year and a half out of the current building that I'm at and had this gal walk in one day and requested an interview.
She had the skillset. She had worked with dogs before and I liked what I heard. And so over time, I could just see that she was an exceptional trainer and she really had those skills dialed in, but I saw something in her and like any good leader, you want to coach and develop folks. So I spent a lot of time, um, you know, working with her and kind of refining those skills.
And at some point I did want to step out and not have to, to, uh, you know, talk to, talk to and communicate with clients. And so I got her up trained as quickly as I could to, um, you know, return dogs back to their owners. And it took her a while to warm up because I noticed that she didn't really have the people skills that I was looking for. For example, when you're talking to somebody, you look at them in the eyes, right?
I noticed that there was a lot of glancing off in the distance. So the eye communication piece was huge. And then also when you're talking to somebody, sometimes even if you don't want to be in that room or have that interaction, you have to put the face on. You have to put the mask on.
It's sales 101. The voice would be very low as well. And just, she didn't have that natural charisma, so to speak, and still really does until this day. Sometimes I see it flipped on a little more than others.
Nevertheless, people skills is something we've been working big time on. So we got that dialed in to a certain extent. And then I just noticed that the work ethic was there. She would show up, she would come in waiting to ask her to, she would pick up the slack, she would call, make sure that no stone was unturned and make sure that customers were being reached out to and all those things And so for me I like hey at some point I going to need a general manager somebody to run this place when I officially step out So I started talking to her about being a potential general manager and she was open to the idea.
I myself was in a learning phase in how to develop and coach people and write people up and be very meticulous with my employee handbook. And so it was kind of a learning experience for the both of us. And so I put together this role for her and we have clear outlines. And I set the expectation that this role is going to evolve.
Sure as hell, I put her on a salary program instead of hourly with the intent, and I don't know if anybody knows how salary works, So basically, instead of you paying your customer an hourly wage, so they show up and they get paid $17 an hour, you kind of come up with how much you're going to pay them annually. And then you divide that by 52 weeks or whatever your pay cycle is, right? So they get paid the same no matter how many hours they work, how much time they take off. So she could take a full week off, and she's still getting paid her base salary, right?
And so there was commissions on top of that and so forth. And I just started noticing some cracks. I started noticing that how the way that she used to be with showing up and coming in when she didn't have to and some of those things, it almost seems as soon as I flipped over to salary, that stopped happening. And I'm like, why?
I addressed it with her several times, and I figured there's probably some burnout, which you know, thankfully she had been honest with me and told me that there was burnout and I'm always kind of gauging where an employee is at. Um, so that was one of them is I just noticed that the effort wasn't really there like it used to be. Uh, because I think when an employee is on salary, they get into this mind state like, Oh, I can work the bare minimum or I don't have to work a full week.
And then I still get paid the same. Right. Another red flag that I noticed was there's been ups and downs. There's seasonality with any business.
And with this particular business, a lot of the times when I have under 10 dogs, it doesn't make any sense to have more than two trainers. And for that reason, she has been, is supposed to be the anchor. So if I have two trainers on staff and I only need one trainer, it makes logical sense for me to send that other train her home and keep her working for that day because she gets paid salary no matter what, right? Why am I going to double dip?
And I'm also mindful about folks have bills to pay and all that, but I heard from somewhere, maybe it was a business coach that we're a business, not a charity So I kind of take that with a grain of salt But that said there would be times where she would not come in to work So that way the other employee could get hours And I like hey that makes no sense because I still paying you even though you're not at the facility training and doing the work. So now I also have to pay the other employee.
So that was kind of the other one. There's been other times where I have conversations and I noticed that she's been kind of dismissive with something she doesn't agree with, right? There's no like, oh, I'm sorry, I won't do it again, or I'll fix it. The times that I know that we're on the same page, I hear that.
But recently, that hasn't really been the case. And I almost feel like I'm getting to the final straw. And it just hit me the other day that I have this pattern where I see some good in somebody or I see potential, and then I automatically give them a role and not let them prove themselves. And then I'm kind of stuck with that person.
But this final stroll happened a couple of days ago. And one of the trainers put in their two weeks notice, which was really a nine day. And I find out from another employee, and we're kind of getting into gossip territory, but find out from another employee that she knew a week ago that this employee was leaving, which threw me off guard because it is literally in the job title, the job description, right? You're responsible for operations.
You're responsible for scheduling and conflicts and those types of things. And I asked her about it. I'm like, hey, I heard that you found out a week ago. What's your justification for not giving me a heads up sooner?
And I gave her room to speak. And she said that, well, I didn't feel like it was my place. It should have come from him. And I let her air it out.
And I was like, hey, it is literally in your job title. We should have known. If you wanted to keep loyalty, if you were just another employee, like a peer-to-peer, completely understand, not your place. But as a functioning general manager with your responsibilities, you could have at least flagged it up and said something along the lines of, hey, we should start trying to search for a new trainer.
I should have seen some sort of indication from you that you were getting the backup employee trained to cover the gaps in the schedule that were coming up because you're scheduling time off. Instead, we have nine days to try and figure out how we're going to fill in the gaps, right? And I'm going to have to work in the business for a few days, which it's my business. I don't mind at the same time.
That's not what I brought her on and how I built the systems. And so I get frustrated with myself when I ignore yellow flags. And I've talked about this before, but sometimes you have a spot to fill and you hire the first person that walks through the door right For me I think it when I see that I built some sort of relationship or this person has potential automatically plug them in and assume that they're going to excel and I can teach them the rest along the way. I can't sit here and tell you that I have an answer of how to spot those red flags.
I think a lot of it comes from experience. I think that during an interview process, you can cover a lot of things that you can find out about a person and their core values and what they think by just watching them. Maybe that's partly my fault as I haven't been there as much as I should be. I have tried to work and make corrections and coach to the best of my ability.
But at the end of the day, you can't change somebody. Either they align with your core values or they don't. You have some employees that will take constructive feedback and just run with it and change things and do things the way that you ask them to do. And then you have other employees that they only see things their way.
And it's not necessarily that they're being defiant, but it almost feels that way. Hopefully that makes sense. So yeah, I just wanted to share that experience. It has been a little irritating and disappointing.
I don't like spending a lot of time, even money, right? Like you can always get money back, but when it's a slow season like it is now, every penny counts. And when you have an employee who feels bad for other employees and is basically giving away hours and scheduling folks when there's no justification to give away the hours because there's literally not enough work, it is a huge problem on top of other problems. So just wanted to share that story, figure out the red flags.
I'd highly recommend, at least from my experience that you don't automatically promote somebody unless you know 110% they're the right fit for the role. I would recommend maybe doing a trial. So in my case, what I should have done is said, hey, we're going to trial this for six months to see how you're doing the role. If we don't feel like you're a good fit, then we'll kind of take that away.
Maybe not give them the title right away. Let's say after six months, if they graduate and they've proved that they're capable and you can see that the values are aligned and they can handle the situations, then maybe at that point we give the full promotion. Moving forward, that's what I'm going to do. There was also other things on the back end that made it a little difficult because there's folks that weren't ready at that time and they're fully capable to make better decisions and fill in gaps.
Nevertheless, it's always a learning experience and a learning curve. So until the next time, I hope everything goes well with all of my listeners.
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