Freedom.
Most entrepreneurs begin with purpose, passion, and the desire to build something meaningful. They want to make a difference, create opportunities for others, and design a life defined by freedom.
But as the business grows, many founders find themselves trapped inside the very company they created-carrying the weight of every decision and wondering how the freedom they once imagined slipped away.
In Finding Freedom, entrepreneur and leadership coach Jean Moncrieff offers a practical roadmap for building a valuable company without losing the life you set out to create. Drawing on decades of experience building and scaling businesses, he shows how entrepreneurs can regain momentum, develop strong leadership teams, and create organizations that generate both impact and independence.
This book is inspired by conversations from Jean's podcast, The Freedom Experience, where he speaks with remarkable founders and leaders about building meaningful companies and living intentional lives. Distilling these insights, he reveals the mindset shifts and practical ideas that allow entrepreneurs to build companies that create lasting value and true freedom.
"Jean offers a thoughtful reminder that great companies are built from the inside out. Finding Freedom encourages leaders to reflect on who they are, what they stand for, and how to build organizations that create real and lasting value."
-Paul Spiegelman, cofounder, Small Giants Community & Kintsugi Village
"Finding Freedom has the makings of a small-business bible. Jean Moncrieff has written a rare kind of guide-one that blends compelling stories, sharp analysis, and practical advice owners can actually use. It's a book for leaders of stuck companies who want to regain momentum, but it's also the kind of book you'll return to again and again as new challenges arise. What gives it real power is that Jean has lived every lesson he shares. His honesty about his own journey gives this book an authority-and humanity-that most business books lack."
-Loren Feldman, founder, 21 Hats Media
"The world is full of daring entrepreneurs who were once filled with purpose and passion, who now feel trapped and even embittered by the personal sacrifices they have had to make. In this transformative book, Jean Moncrieff brilliantly reveals how business owners can build and scale a valuable business, and find the freedom to exit without sacrificing the purpose, culture, and impact of what they spent most of their lives building."
-Davin Salvagno, #1 bestselling author of Thieves of Purpose
"In a world full of business books that tell you what to do, Finding Freedom goes deeper; it asks why you're doing it in the first place.
The chapters on intentional growth and purpose alone are worth the price of the book. Whether you're just stepping into leadership or have been in the seat for decades, this book will challenge you in the best possible way."
-Eric Rieger, founder & CEO, WEBIT Services, Inc.
Jean Moncrieff is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and leadership team coach with more than three decades of experience building, scaling, and exiting businesses. Originally from South Africa, Jean started his first company as a teenager, launching a computer hardware business at the age of nineteen. Over the following years, he helped build and raise capital for one of the early web content management platforms and went on to found, finance, and exit several companies across different industries.Having experienced the full journey of entrepreneurship - from founder and operator to investor and exit- Jean developed a deep understanding of the challenges business owners face as their companies grow. After scaling an eight-figure company that left him trapped inside the business, he spent two years transforming it into a valuable, scalable asset before successfully exiting. That experience reshaped the way he approaches business and leadership.Today, Jean works with CEOs and leadership teams to build valuable companies that can grow without consuming their lives. He is the founder of Emerge Accelerators and leads the Small Giants Community, a global network of purpose-driven business owners committed to building companies that are great rather than simply big.
Bo Burlingham is a contributor to Forbes where he produces the magazine's annual Small Giants section. Previously, he worked for 33 years at Inc. magazine, as senior editor, executive editor, and editor at large. He is the coauthor, with Jack Stack, of The Great Game of Business and A Stake in the Outcome and, with Norm Brodsky, of The Knack (renamed Street Smarts in paperback). He is also the author of Small Giants and Finish Big. The popularity of Small Giants led to the creation of the Small Giants Community where business leaders learn and share practices and systems they can use to make their companies great, whether or not the businesses are big.
