Building Grit, Culture & Vision in Business w/ Garrett Foster | Ep. 09 - The Success Blueprint

Garrett Foster shares how entrepreneurs can build stronger culture, embrace core values that actually fit, and lead with generosity, grit, and long-term vision. This episode is packed with practical wisdom for business owners, leaders, and growth-minded teams.

In this episode of The Success Blueprint Podcast, Jason Grider and Morgan Peterson sit down with Garrett Foster, entrepreneur, business leader, and founder of Prevail Legacy Builders. The conversation centers on what actually helps businesses grow over time: grit, clear core values, aligned culture, generous leadership, and the willingness to keep moving when things get hard.

Garrett’s story makes this episode especially valuable because he has seen business from multiple angles. He grew up around a family business, earned a business degree at BYU-Idaho, later completed graduate work in organizational development at Gonzaga, and spent years learning through construction, local business ownership, startups, and leadership development. That range of experience gives weight to what he shares about scaling companies and helping owners build something that lasts.

One of the strongest themes in this conversation is that culture cannot be faked. Garrett explains that many businesses try to build culture backward by choosing core values they wish they had instead of identifying the values they actually live out. That misalignment creates distrust, confusion, and unnecessary friction. His point is simple but powerful: culture gets easier to build when leaders stop trying to mimic what sounds impressive and instead embrace who they really are. That same kind of alignment matters in any growth-minded business, including real estate teams working to build trust and momentum over time. For anyone exploring that kind of growth in East Idaho, Grider & Peterson also shares team opportunities at Join Our Team.

Another key idea in this episode is grit. Garrett says that the people who ultimately win are often the ones willing to do the uncomfortable work that others avoid. They do not expect customers to simply appear. They knock doors, start conversations, accept feedback, and keep adjusting when the first few attempts do not work. That mindset is part of what separates owners who talk about growth from owners who actually experience it.

Garrett also shares a few of the books and frameworks that shaped his thinking. He references the impact of Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad perspective as an early mindset shift, and he talks through how assessments like The Six Types of Working Genius can help leaders understand where energy, alignment, and contribution really come from. Rather than forcing people into roles that drain them, he encourages leaders to understand what gives people energy and build from there.

The episode also gets practical. Garrett talks about common mistakes business owners make, why vision gets blurry when people lose their rhythm, and what numbers matter most when you are trying to grow responsibly. He highlights profitability, cash flow, and receivables aging as three financial categories every owner should understand, while also reminding listeners that leading indicators inside the business usually matter just as much as the final financial report.

What makes this conversation especially strong is that it is not just about business theory. It is about how leadership actually feels in real life. Garrett speaks honestly about reinvention, rebuilding, and what it looks like to keep moving forward when circumstances change. That perspective makes this episode useful for entrepreneurs, managers, sales professionals, and anyone trying to build a business with more clarity and staying power. If you want to stay connected to more conversations like this one, you can connect with the Grider & Peterson team here or browse more episodes on The Success Blueprint Podcast page.

Topics Covered in This Episode

• Garrett Foster’s entrepreneurial background and business journey
• How Prevail Legacy Builders came to life
• Why generosity and contribution matter in leadership
• How real core values shape authentic business culture
• Why misaligned core values create distrust inside a company
• The difference between culture you want and culture you actually live
• Why grit separates successful entrepreneurs from the rest
• Mindset shifts that helped Garrett grow through uncertainty
• The role of feedback, discomfort, and repetition in growth
• How Working Genius and energy alignment help teams perform better
• Common mistakes business owners make when they lose vision
• The numbers every business owner should watch closely

Transcript

Chapter 1: Welcome & Garrett’s Entrepreneurial Journey

Morgan: Welcome back to another episode of The Success Blueprint. I’ve got my business partner Jason to my left and my good friend Garrett Foster to my right. Garrett is an entrepreneur, a guy I look up to a lot, and someone I really enjoy having as a friend. He’s had success in several businesses, and he’s doing great work now with Prevail Legacy Builders. Garrett, thanks for being here.

Garrett: Thanks for having me on. I think my story started with business always being an interest. My dad and my cousin had a local family business, HK Contractors, and I always thought I’d eventually take that over. Then they decided to sell it, and that changed everything. From there we went further down the entrepreneurial road.

Garrett: I got my business degree from BYU-Idaho. Later on, we bought Mrs. Powell’s, partnered into The Cocoa Bean locally, tried a few different businesses, and learned every step of the way. I kept working for the company my dad and cousin sold to, and eventually went back and got my master’s degree from Gonzaga in organizational development.

Garrett: That started helping me connect the dots between small business, big business, startups, and leadership. In 2019 I stepped away and moved into the construction business. We grew that for five years, I exited, and then hit a season where I wasn’t fully sure what I could or couldn’t do next. What I did know was that I loved helping people, so I decided to take everything I had learned over the last twenty years and put it together to help others grow their businesses.

Chapter 2: Generosity, Abundance & Leadership

Morgan: One thing I’ve always noticed about you is generosity. You seem to come from contribution naturally. Is that something you were born with, or something you had to learn?

Garrett: I think the answer is both. Some of it can come naturally, but I don’t think it comes naturally for most of us. In general, we’re probably pretty selfish people, and some of that comes from a good place because we want to take care of our families. But I think generosity and contribution have to be built.

Garrett: A lot of that is a mindset shift from scarcity to abundance. Some people naturally lean that way, but most of us have to develop it and keep building it over time.

Chapter 3: Core Values & Building Real Culture

Jason: So how do you build a good culture in a business?

Garrett: Most businesses go wrong because they start with what they want to be instead of what they really are. They create a culture statement or core values list that sounds good, but it doesn’t match reality. That causes immediate misalignment. When I work with a business, I usually tell them to stop trying to force something and instead embrace what they actually are.

Garrett: Just because two businesses have different core values does not mean one is good and one is bad. The real question is: who are you, what are you passionate about, and what are you truly building? Once you know that, culture becomes much easier to build because it is natural instead of forced.

Garrett: From there, it’s repetition. Every meeting we have in our businesses starts with leadership and core values. We don’t skip that. If people don’t hear it over and over again, the culture never really gets built.

Morgan: I think sometimes core values become a wish list instead of an honest reflection.

Garrett: Exactly. People often choose the values they think they should have instead of the ones they actually live by. We also have to be careful not to choose byproducts as core values. Trust is a great example. A lot of people want trust as a core value, but trust is actually a byproduct of living aligned core values. It’s not the value itself.

Chapter 4: Energy, Alignment & Working Genius

Garrett: It takes time to get honest enough with yourself to back up and identify what is really true. That’s why I like tools like Patrick Lencioni’s Working Genius framework. It helps people understand what gives them energy, joy, and momentum during the day.

Garrett: So many people spend years doing work they don’t actually enjoy because they think they have to. But when someone finally starts asking, “What gives me energy?” and then organizes their work around that, everything changes. Culture works the same way. If it takes an extreme amount of effort to make your culture stick, you’re probably not aligned.

Chapter 5: What Separates Successful Entrepreneurs

Jason: What do you think separates the most successful entrepreneurs from everyone else?

Garrett: Grit. I know it can sound cliché, but at some point it really comes down to grit. I was on the phone this morning with a business owner starting a new company. He’s had some setbacks already, but he said something that stood out: “This is actually a blessing, and I’m going to use it.” I immediately thought, okay, he’s going to make it.

Garrett: The people who succeed use setbacks as fuel. They don’t sit back and say, “Poor me.” They ask how to make this work and then they get back after it. That same person also said, “I don’t know exactly what I’m doing yet, but I’ll knock doors and talk to people on the street if I have to.” That’s what it takes.

Garrett: A lot of people want to start a business, sit in the office, make a few social posts, and have customers just show up. That usually isn’t how it works. People see what looks like overnight success, but they missed the five or ten years of work before that moment.

Chapter 6: Can Grit Be Taught?

Morgan: Can grit be taught, or do people either have it or not?

Garrett: I think it can be taught as long as someone has a minimum threshold of resilience and the ability to take feedback. If they can’t take feedback at all, it’s going to be hard. But I also think we’re often too quick to label people as lazy or soft when really they may just be motivated differently than we are.

Garrett: Every generation gets criticized by the one before it. But I don’t think people are simply lazy. I think many are just motivated differently, and leaders haven’t taken the time to understand how to connect with that. If someone can receive feedback and adjust, they can develop grit.

Chapter 7: Mindset Shifts That Changed Garrett’s Life

Jason: What’s a mindset shift that really changed you?

Garrett: Two things stand out. The first happened in college. I hated school, and somehow I got introduced to Robert Kiyosaki and Rich Dad Poor Dad. That book completely changed my mindset. It was the first time I started questioning traditional assumptions about work, money, assets, and liabilities.

Garrett: It also helped me realize that going against common belief can be a really good thing. It was one of the first times I felt okay challenging what I had always been told. That was huge for me.

Garrett: The second shift came in 2023 when I exited a partnership and felt like I was rebuilding at age forty-four. It was a strange time. Over Christmas, I read The Alchemist for the first time, and that book helped me reconfirm that life is about the journey and the process. It helped me embrace where I was instead of just resenting it.

Garrett: Once I accepted that season for what it was, it created new opportunities instead of defeat. That was a really important moment for me.

Chapter 8: Habits, Vision & What Business Owners Need to Track

Morgan: What are the most important numbers every business owner should track?

Garrett: They’re always going to vary somewhat by industry, but in general I’d say profitability, cash flow, and your aging report. A lot of people use KPIs or metrics, and we use the term deliverables because we’re trying to track the leading indicators that eventually show up in the financials.

Garrett: But at the general level, owners need to understand the health of the business, and that starts with profitability. They also need to understand cash flow, because a lot of profitable businesses still go broke due to poor cash flow management. Then the aging report matters because receivables directly affect cash flow.

Garrett: Business owners also tend to stub their toe when they lose rhythm and lose vision. Part of good leadership is recreating vision, getting people out of comfort, and helping them get back to work with better process and systems in place.

Chapter 9: Leadership, Legacy & Closing Thoughts

Jason: I’ve been dying to ask you about the Masters shirt. Did you just go recently?

Garrett: Yes, just once so far. My dad and I have been doing some bucket-list-type experiences together. We also just got back from the Little League World Series. We went to the Masters this year, and honestly, for a business guy and numbers guy, I was geeking out over the entire operation.

Garrett: The golfers were amazing, the course was incredible, but the entire production and operation was what really stood out to me. They’ve got it dialed in.

Morgan: That’s awesome. Garrett, thanks for coming on. I told you at the beginning that we’ll probably need to have you back again, maybe a couple more times. I took a lot of notes on things I want to implement myself. I really appreciate your friendship and your time.

Garrett: Thank you. I appreciate it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Garrett Foster say is the key difference between businesses that grow and businesses that stall?

Garrett points to alignment and grit. He says businesses grow when leaders are honest about who they are, what they actually value, and what kind of culture they are really building. From there, growth requires grit — the willingness to keep moving through setbacks instead of waiting for easy momentum.

Why does Garrett Foster think many businesses get core values wrong?

He believes many companies choose core values based on what sounds impressive rather than what is actually true. When a business posts values that do not match how the owner or team really operates, employees quickly notice the disconnect. That creates mistrust and makes culture harder to build.

What mindset shifts shaped Garrett Foster’s leadership journey?

Two major shifts stood out for Garrett. The first came from reading Rich Dad Poor Dad in college, which challenged traditional beliefs about money and business. The second came later in life during a season of rebuilding, when reading The Alchemist helped him reframe his circumstances and focus on the journey rather than defeat.

What numbers does Garrett Foster believe every business owner should watch?

Garrett says the three broad categories every owner should understand are profitability, cash flow, and receivables aging. Even if a business is technically profitable, poor cash flow can still create serious problems. He also stresses the importance of tracking leading indicators inside the business instead of only looking backward at financial reports.