Love People. Create Value. Redefining Success with Justin McCullough of Rocket Leap
Love People. Create Value. Redefining Success with Justin McCullough of Rocket Leap
Welcome to Episode 3 of The Table Network Podcast.
Host Zac Tinney and co-host Jamie sit down with Justin McCullough, CEO and founder of Rocket Leap, to talk about success, stress, and seasons of life — and how clarity, purpose, and love can transform the way we lead and live.
How Do You Define Success?
The episode opens with a question passed down from the previous guest, Monica McKiterich of Impact Family Wellness:
“How does Justin define success?”
Justin smiles, then answers with honesty and self-reflection:
“I come back to my four words all the time — love people, create value. Those are strong signals for me that I’m living successfully.”
He explains that true success isn’t just about achievements or milestones.
It’s about joy, peace, and presence — the fruits of the Spirit that can’t be measured on a spreadsheet.
“Right now, if I’m honest, I don’t feel very successful,” Justin admits. “There’s a lot happening in business and life. Outwardly I’m hitting all the marks, but inwardly I’m learning that peace is the real scorecard.”
The Journey: From E-Commerce Pioneer to Purpose-Driven Founder
Justin’s career spans over three decades — from building early e-commerce platforms in the 1990s to leading technology innovation inside Capital One.
After his company was acquired, life took an unexpected turn.
“When Hurricane Harvey hit, we had three and a half feet of water in our house,” he recalls. “It gave me a clean slate to decide what was next.”
That reset eventually led him to Austin, Texas, and to founding Rocket Leap — a company focused on strategic growth, coaching, and software for leaders.
“I wanted to take what I’d learned in corporate America and make it accessible to small and mid-size organizations — $2 to $20 million businesses that want to grow without the chaos.”
Frameworks That Transcend: Vision, Intention, and Means
Across startups, Fortune 500s, and everything in between, Justin found that successful organizations share a pattern:
“When you have Vision, Intention, and Means, you have the formula for success.
Missing any one of those three — it either fails completely or just grinds and grinds.”
He attributes much of this thinking to Dallas Willard’s spiritual writings, translating those truths into practical business frameworks.
Justin also defines good strategy this way:
“It’s the ability to prioritize limited resources around what’s valued and valuable so we can create leverage for the future we desire most.”
Whether leading large teams or mentoring founders, his focus remains the same: help people think clearly, act intentionally, and build cultures of high trust and collaboration.
The Six Sources of Stress — and Why Clarity Is the Cure
Justin describes how stress often stems from disconnection between people, operations, and strategy — what he calls the “nine-box matrix” of me, we, and all of us across three domains.
When those boxes get out of sync, he says, “we start turning our Rubik’s cube,” constantly twisting for balance between progress and peace.
Two major sources of stress he identifies:
Misaligned results — chasing metrics that don’t reflect real purpose.
Execution drag — when teams slow down because of confusion, fatigue, or unclear priorities.
His cure? Clarity.
“Confusion slows everything down. Clarity speeds everything up.
It’s not just a concept — it’s actionable.”
He uses four questions to unlock clarity with his clients:
What’s working right now?
What’s not working right now?
What are your biggest blockers or challenges?
What’s most important?
“These four questions move us toward clarity,” he says, “and clarity creates capacity.”
Love People. Create Value.
For Justin, leadership always returns to that four-word mantra — Love People. Create Value.
“Metrics matter, but they shouldn’t define us — they should propel us.
My hidden success metric has always been: how well did I love people today, and how much value did I create?”
Zac adds that when leaders gain that same clarity, they show up differently — with purpose, empathy, and alignment.
Together they reflect on how clarity not only drives performance but also frees capacity across an organization.
Seasons, Self-Awareness, and Slowing Down
As the conversation shifts, Jamie brings up Ecclesiastes 3 — “for everything there is a season” — reminding Justin (and listeners) that even success has rhythms of rest and renewal.
“We rarely talk about the seasons of our lives,” Justin says. “But awareness of the season we’re in — and the season others are in — is essential for empathy and leadership.”
He encourages journaling as a spiritual and mental practice:
“I write to think. It’s how I get honest with myself about the season I’m in.”
Jamie shares a creative twist — writing with your non-dominant hand to slow down your mind and connect more deeply with your thoughts. Justin laughs, “Someone’s going to find that journal years from now and wonder what happened to me.”
Final Thoughts and a Challenge for Leaders
Zac closes with encouragement for leaders in every season:
“If you’re thriving right now, remember — this isn’t forever.
And if you’re struggling, that’s not forever either. Everything has its season.”
Before signing off, Justin leaves a reflective question for the next guest:
“What’s the thing you need to slow down and do — that you know you should?”
Connect with Justin McCullough
🌐 Website: RocketLeap.co
💼 LinkedIn: Justin McCullough
☕ In Austin? Reach out — he loves grabbing coffee and connecting with fellow leaders.
🔑 Key Takeaways
True success = loving people, creating value, and experiencing peace.
Clarity creates capacity — confusion drains it.
Purposeful metrics propel; they don’t define.
Leadership requires awareness of both your season and your team’s.
