Bart Paden grew Midwestern Interactive from $0 to a $24M valuation in ten years. His secret? He put people before tasks and never built a power hierarchy.

Bart is the founder of Midwestern Interactive, author of Remaining Human, and now runs Archetype Original — a leadership coaching and consulting practice built on one conviction: your organization cannot be healthier than you are.

In this conversation, Bart traces his entrepreneurial journey from working out of a bedroom in Webb City, Missouri to leading a team of 104 people. Along the way, he founded Restore Joplin — a nonprofit that raised over $250,000 following the 2011 tornado and gave every dollar away.

What made the difference wasn't a perfect plan. It was curiosity. Bart taught himself the internet by downloading websites and dissecting their code before tutorials exis ...