Monday Apr 13, 2026

Mo Bunnell: Stop Selling. Start Giving. Watch What Happens.

What if everything you’ve been taught about selling…is backward?

My guest, Mo Bunnell (see his bio below), believes the best way to win business isn’t by pushing harder, closing faster, or perfecting your pitch.

It’s by giving first.

Mo is the founder of Bunnell Idea Group and the author of Give to Grow, a system used by some of the world’s most respected professional services firms to build deeper relationships and drive sustainable growth. But his journey didn’t start there.

He began as an actuary, mastering complex models and passing one of the toughest professional tracks out there…before being told he was “an actuary with a personality” and pushed into leading major client relationships. That shift forced him to rethink everything about how business actually gets won.

In this conversation, we break down the mindset and method behind his approach:

• The critical difference between doing the work vs. winning the work
• Why generosity is the ultimate growth strategy
• The five “lies” we tell ourselves that hold us back from building relationships
• How giving your expertise away (strategically) leads to more business, not less
• A simple weekly system to stay consistent and drive long-term growth

Mo also shares the story of a high-stakes meeting where he walked in with nothing but ideas to help…and walked out with a major client relationship that lasted for years.

This isn’t about sales tactics.

It’s about building relationships that fuel your entire career.

If you’ve ever struggled with business development, felt uncomfortable “selling,” or wondered how to grow your network more authentically, this episode delivers a practical and refreshing perspective.

 

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About MoMo Bunnell helps complex organizations grow by scaling business development skills across their organizations and creating a growth-oriented culture. He’s the author of Give to Grow, The Snowball System, the host of the podcast Real Relationships Real Revenue, and the founder of Bunnell Idea Group (BIG), who has trained tens of thousands of professionals. BIG’s clients have used Mo and his team’s GrowBIG® training to give their experts a system for growth that creates deep relationships, gives a comprehensive business development framework, and dare we say, is fun to use. Mo started out his career as an expert himself, passing all the actuarial exams to earn their highest designation: Fellow of the Society of Actuaries. Today, Mo enjoys working with hundreds of clients, including some of the largest, most prestigious service-based organizations. Mo and his wife of over 30 years, Becky, enjoy spending time with their friends and two adult daughters. Outside of work, he enjoys working out, backpacking, and playing ultimate frisbee at the national and world levels. Becky and Mo live in Atlanta, Georgia, with their four horses, two cats, a dog, a bird, and a miniature donkey, Louie Hamilton.

 

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