How to Scale a Business Without Burning Out w/ Russ Perry

“When you're just building your team and hiring people, it's super important as a leader that you have done it, and you know what it is, and it's documented."

Letting go is one of the hardest things for any entrepreneur — but it’s also the key to real growth. Russ Perry, CEO of Design Pickle, joins Mallory Glessner on Inside the Process to talk about the fine art of delegation, building a business that doesn’t rely on you for every decision, and why creating space for personal time is a game-changer (literally). From scaling a team to refining processes, Russ shares hard-earned lessons on stepping back without losing control. If you’re ready to free yourself from the day-to-day grind and focus on the big picture, this episode is packed with insights to help you make it happen.

Key Takeaways:

• Letting go is tough – Entrepreneurs cling to what they love, even when delegating would help.
• Personal time = success – Reaching a point where you can enjoy hobbies guilt-free is a milestone.
• No process, no delegation – Without clear systems, hiring won’t fix your workload.
• Vision needs action – Big ideas mean nothing without a roadmap to execute them.
• Culture-first onboarding wins – Engaging, creative onboarding strengthens team buy-in

Chapter Markers:

[00:00] Russ’s backstory

[2:11] What process was hardest to let go of?

[4:47] Delegation story

[7:02] What’s the first thing you would delegate?

[9:35] Design Pickle's unique process

[11:10] Closing

Resources:

Want more resources from this episode? We’ve got an episode recap, replay, and every template, process, and resource we covered right here: Inside the process

Trainual

Inside The Process provides solutions for every aspect of the business — from process headaches and system improvement to self-management and leveling up as a leader. Mallory Glessner sits down with some of the brightest business minds and unpack their specialized insights to help you improve and level up the work you’re doing.

This is one of a few podcasts from Trainual, a software platform that helps businesses build playbooks to train and grow their team. You can check out the rest of our shows here: Inside the process