Executive Programs & Podcast

Real Conversations.
Real Experience.
Real Insight.

Chip Carlson brings 30 years of executive and operational experience to three programs: for CHROs navigating international assignments, executives accelerating their leadership, and distribution companies building sales capability. Plus a weekly video podcast for leaders who want the real conversation.

Talk with Chip
Conversations That Matter

Free Live Session — Thursday, August 27

Five Patterns That Create the Executive Ceiling

Thursday, August 27  •  12:00pm Central  •  90 minutes  •  No charge

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Programs

Three Ways We Work

Three distinct programs built on the same foundation: 30 years of operating experience across industries, countries, and every level of leadership.

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Distribution Sales Mastery™

A structured sales training program built specifically for distribution companies. The program works directly with the sales team and builds the management framework so leaders can coach and sustain the process.

Built from the inside out, for the way distribution actually sells.

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The Executive Accelerator™

A premium, small-cohort executive development program for mid-career operators and executives who want to make better decisions, carry more organizational influence, and accelerate their trajectory.

Cohort 1 begins October 6, 2026. Twelve seats. $5,500 per participant.

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HQ Gap™

A structured advisory program for executives taking international assignments. Delivered directly to the executive before departure and through the first six months in-country. Typically engaged through the CHRO or global mobility function.

6 pre-departure sessions. 6 months of biweekly advisory. The work is with the executive.



Distribution Sales Mastery™

Built for the Way Distribution Companies Actually Sell.

Distribution sales is different. The dynamics, the margin pressure, the inside-outside relationship, the vendor complexity: none of it looks like what standard sales training was built for. DSM was built from the inside out.

Who It's For

The program works directly with your sales team: the reps, the inside-outside pairs, and the branch-level managers. It also builds the management framework so leaders know how to coach, track, and hold the process accountable after the program ends. CEOs and VPs of Sales engage the program; the work happens with the people doing the selling.

How It's Delivered

Chip works directly with your sales organization. The program is structured, modular, and built to create lasting capability inside your team, not a one-time training event that fades after the room clears.

What It Covers

Distribution-specific sales strategy, account management, the inside-outside sales relationship, margin discipline, vendor and line management, and the metrics that actually matter in a distribution environment.

A Program That Understands Distribution

Most sales training programs are built for direct sales organizations. When distribution companies try to apply them, their teams spend half the time figuring out why the examples don't quite fit their world.

Distribution Sales Mastery was built specifically around how distribution actually works: the branch model, the rep relationships, the vendor dynamics, the pricing complexity, and the service expectations that make distribution sales different from everything else.

The result is a sales capability that stays inside your organization long after the engagement ends.

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The Executive Accelerator™

Five Competencies. Nine Sessions. One Executive.

A cohort-based executive development program for executives stepping into greater scope, and for those who have hit a ceiling and want to understand why. Built around the Executive Decision Flywheel™ — five integrated competencies applied directly to the participant's real decisions, real numbers, and real organizational challenges.

Cohort 1 — Founding

October 6 – December 8, 2026

Nine Tuesdays at 4:00 pm Eastern. Twelve seats maximum. All participants on camera. Sessions are not recorded.

The Investment

$5,500

Founding Cohort price per participant — individual or corporate. Comparable programs at major business schools run $10,000 to $20,000.

Enrollment

By application. Four questions, reviewed personally in the order received. A seat is held only once the signed enrollment agreement and payment are both received.

The Five Competencies

01
Decision Clarity — knowing which decisions are yours and how much information you actually need.
02
Financial Fluency — reading financial signals as decision inputs, not reporting outputs.
03
Strategic Perspective — seeing what most executives miss from operational altitude.
04
Organizational Influence — moving organizations through enrollment rather than authority.
05
Personal Leadership System — a built system for who you are under pressure.
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HQ Gap™

The Gap Between Headquarters and the Ground Is Real.

Most companies invest significantly in selecting the right executive for an international assignment, and almost nothing in preparing them for what actually determines whether that assignment succeeds.

A Program for the Executive Making the Move

The failure rate for international executive assignments runs between 20% and 40% in most multinational organizations. The cost, in productivity, retention, client relationships, and market execution, rarely shows up in a single metric. It just shows up as a problem nobody fully explains.

HQ Gap is a structured advisory program delivered directly to the expatriate executive: before they leave and through the critical first six months in-country. The program is typically engaged through the CHRO or global mobility function, but the work happens with the executive. It addresses the operational, relational, and personal factors that determine whether the assignment succeeds, not just the logistical ones that relocation packages cover.

Particularly effective for assignments into Latin America, where the gap between HQ expectations and in-country reality is most pronounced.

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Phase 1
6 Pre-Departure Sessions

Structured sessions covering operational reality, authority and relationships, the predecessor dynamic, headquarters expectations, and the personal factors most companies never address before the executive boards the plane.

Phase 2
6 Months of Biweekly Advisory

Ongoing advisory through the first six months in-country, the period when the assignment is most at risk. Real-time guidance tied to what the executive is actually navigating on the ground.

Outcome
A Six-Month Check That Works

At six months, the executive is operationally embedded, the team has clarity on direction, HQ relationships are functioning, and the markers of a successful assignment are visible and measurable.

Talk with Chip
Chip Carlson
Host · Executive · Advisor
30+
Years of Experience
3
Continents Operated
2
Languages
1.5M+
Miles Traveled
About the Host

Thirty Years. Every Level.

Chip Carlson spent 30+ years operating at every level of leadership — across sales, marketing, operations, and distribution — from hands-on operating roles through Vice President and President-level executive positions in the United States, Mexico, and Latin America.

He has held President and VP-level executive roles with direct P&L responsibility, led international market entry and expansion strategies, and built and managed sales forces, distribution networks, and operations teams across the American Continents.

Chip is bilingual in English and Spanish, bicultural across the U.S. and Latin America, and has logged more than 1.5 million actual flight miles, selling auto parts at street level in 28 states of Mexico and operating across markets throughout North America, Central America, South America, Europe, and Asia. He currently runs his own consulting and M&A advisory firm serving automotive and industrial clients across the Americas.

Talk with Chip is where that experience meets a microphone, bringing 30 years of hard-won executive insight directly to leaders and rising professionals who want the real conversation, not the polished version.

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The Podcast

Watch. Listen. Lead.

New episodes weekly. Full video on YouTube, audio on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music. Subscribe and never miss one.

Season 1: Now Airing Subscribe
EP 01
The Blind Spot: What 30 Years in the C-Suite Never Taught Me
The origin episode. The things most leaders learn the hard way, and what to do about them.
Leadership
EP 02
Why Hard-Working Managers Struggle When They Become Executives
The nature of the job changes at the executive level, and most people are never told how.
Foundation
EP 03
The Difference Between Operator Thinking and Executive Thinking
What separates the people who run things from the people who lead them.
Foundation


Next Generation

For Rising Professionals Across the Americas

The things that determine how far and how fast you rise are rarely taught in school, and most leaders won't tell you directly. This content thread changes that.

Real Talk. Real Careers. Built for What's Next.

The Next Generation thread is dedicated content for college students and early-career professionals entering the corporate world, across the Americas. Content is available in both English and Spanish, designed to meet rising professionals wherever they are building their careers.

Topics include: what your boss actually wants from you but won't say, how to navigate organizational dynamics and hierarchy, how to build professional relationships that compound over time, and how to move from promising to indispensable.

This is the conversation a great mentor would have with someone serious about building something real. Available on YouTube (@talkwithchip) and Instagram (@talkwithchip).

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Get in Touch

Let's Talk

Questions about HQ Gap™, the Executive Accelerator™, Distribution Sales Mastery™, the podcast, or anything else. Reach out directly.

✉️
Email
chip@talkwithchip.com
YouTube
@talkwithchip
Instagram
@talkwithchip
TikTok
@talkwithchip
LinkedIn
Chip Carlson