In this episode of the RevOps Champions Podcast, host Brendon Dennewill is joined by Braxton Kilgo, Founder of I Believe In You (IBIY), a kindness-driven movement and purpose-led brand built to help people and organizations lead with belief before strategy. Braxton shares how his background running a high-performance B2B lead generation system shaped the way he now scales IBIY by blending belief-driven storytelling with practical, repeatable outreach systems that create real human connection.
Together, they break down how Braxton generated 237 appointments in 30 days using organic LinkedIn prospecting, why most outreach fails (and how to avoid sounding spammy), and the mindset shift that makes modern selling feel more like serving. Braxton also shares the origin story of IBIY and how a simple “I believe in you” sticker idea turned into an app-enabled bracelet movement that tracks kindness as it spreads around the world.
The conversation tackles a challenge every revenue leader faces: balancing purpose with performance in an increasingly metrics-driven world. This episode is essential listening for RevOps professionals, B2B growth teams, and business leaders who want to build scalable systems without sacrificing authenticity.
What You’ll Learn
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Braxton Kilgo | Founder of I Believe In You (IBIY)
Braxton Kilgo is an entrepreneur, visionary, and founder of I Believe In You (IBIY), a movement designed to inspire small acts of kindness that create a global impact. With more than a decade of experience in business solutions with his company Hours Global, Braxton has served more than 1,000 clients, from startups to corporations and more than 100 personal brands. His expertise spans sales, branding, and high-level partnerships, having generated millions of dollars in high-ticket sales and collaborated with world-class artists, athletes, and celebrities. Now fully focused on IBIY, Braxton has built a powerful ecosystem that connects businesses, communities, and causes through an innovative bracelet and mobile app platform. Each bracelet carries a story, encouraging users to pass it on and track its journey, fostering authentic connections. His passion lies in building relationships, serving people and brands at the highest level, and proving that belief, action, and hard work always pay off. |
Brendon Dennewill: Thank you so much for joining us today. I'm super happy to have my friend Braxton Kilgo. Braxton is the founder of I Believe in You, or IBIY. Through IBIY, he's built a kindness-driven movement that inspires people and businesses to lead with belief before strategy. As the creator of both a purpose-led brand and a high-performance B2B lead generation agency, Braxton blends belief-driven storytelling with proven systems that turn authentic human connection into scalable business growth. Braxton, welcome to the podcast.
Braxton Kilgo: Thanks for having me here, Brendon. I'm excited to be here.
Brendon Dennewill: Good to see you. I want to dive right in. What I really want to chat about today is I Believe in You. You and I connected for the first time three or four months ago, and it's so cool to see what you've created. That's the main focus today, but I also want to give our audience a little background. There are a couple of things that stand out from your digital marketing days, where I think you cut your teeth and learned a lot of hard lessons. So let's start from the beginning: can you share how you went from zero to 237 appointments in just 30 days, all through organic methods?
Braxton Kilgo: What's really cool about that is, within my business solutions company, I'm now getting to implement a lot of the things I built for other people's businesses into IBIY itself.
On the surface, IBIY just looks like a bracelet company. It is, but because of the experience my team and I bring from our other business, we've been able to implement things that I know other bracelet companies simply aren't doing. That skill transfer has been really powerful.
As for the lead generation side, I still talk about this system with people every single day. We've installed it in over a thousand businesses over the last 10 years, and we still use it today. It's actually the only marketing we're doing for IBIY right now, and it's entirely on LinkedIn. The short and simple version: you can do this manually or with software, but basically we leverage LinkedIn to build really targeted lists of people we'd like to work with, and then we send connection requests and personalized messages based on our campaign goals.
Right now, it's all about collaborating and running different campaigns, whether that's for conferences, corporate swag and gifting, behavioral health companies using bracelets for their patients and events, or companies buying them as gifts for their teams. There are so many unique ways people are using them.
To get specific about the LinkedIn approach: we build super-targeted lists and then use a software that allows us to send connection requests with personalized messages. If someone responds, it drops into our inbox. If they don't, it follows up three days later, then engages with a post, then follows up again. Every person on the list is someone we'd genuinely love to work with. You can target all the way down to team size, revenue, title, industry, and more.
Right now with IBIY, I have two appointment setters and we're running about six profiles. We're not trying to do high volume just yet, but we're on track to book anywhere from 65 to 75 calls in the next month. Last month we did around 50 with just one setter, so we're scaling that up. And not only is it targeted and effective, it's incredibly cost-efficient. The software runs about $45 a month per user, and we add Sales Navigator for a couple of the profiles. We're booking calls with high-quality people for five or six hundred dollars a month. I haven't seen anywhere in marketing where you can do that at a better cost.
Brendon Dennewill: It does seem so simple, and the cost seems like a total no-brainer. I'm guessing a lot of people are wondering, how does this not just feel like spam? Because a lot of us get that kind of LinkedIn outreach that feels completely off. How do you do it in a way that actually works, especially given how targeted your lists are?
Braxton Kilgo: It is super simple, but it's about being really good at the small details. I tell all of my appointment setters during training: high intention, low attachment. We're here to serve, not sell. That one mindset alone helps us tremendously, even if it's easier said than done to really embed it into your culture.
Braxton Kilgo: To be more specific: you have to have a product or service that genuinely delivers value and ideally has a unique selling point. Because at the end of the day, you can run ads and do all of these things, but if people don't love what you offer, or if the price point or presentation is off, they're not going to engage. So when someone does get the opportunity to see what you have, it needs to be compelling enough that they say, "Tell me more."
On a practical level, when someone clicks your profile, they should immediately understand what you do and who you serve. Feature the right posts for the campaign you're running. If someone visits my profile, the first things they see give them a clear sense of why we reached out. The videos add credibility. Your profile is really the first impression.
So the first step is always: what's the offer, who are we targeting, and does the profile speak to that clearly? You might already have the assets, or you might need to record a video, make a graphic, or write and pin a specific post. The profile really matters.
Then the messaging itself is critical. The initial outreach sets the tone. The language always depends on your audience and your offer. Some people need only five or six deals a year; others need 25 a week. Some campaigns use a more direct approach: "Brendon, great to connect. My name is Braxton. I do this. I saw that you have this kind of company and I think we could help take you from X to Y. I'd love to tell you more. If not, no harm, no foul." Others are more conversational. Our current campaign says something like: "Hey Brendon, Braxton here. I've been looking for good people doing good things and checked out what you have going on. It looks awesome. First and foremost, I'd love to support, but I also had some ideas about a potential collaboration. Would love to tell you more. Have a great day."
If they don't respond, the follow-up gets progressively more direct, eventually including some links and a friendly check-in. But honestly, from the profile to the automated messaging, you can have all of this set up very quickly, and you can split-test to see what resonates.
Also: don't be afraid of a "no." I've had so many people respond negatively at first, and those are sometimes the easiest to convert. If you respond in the right way, you can still get them.
But out of the entire system, the most important part is the actual prospecting conversation. Once someone responds, the automation stops. It's down to you, your team, or whoever is handling the conversation. We're very deliberate about keeping it human. I tell my team: talk to people like you're at the open bar at a conference, not like you're writing a formal business letter. Nobody wants "Dear Mr. Dennewill, I greatly appreciate your time today."
We send a lot of voice memos and videos. It's raw and real, like texting a friend. Most people would say that's too unprofessional, but people love it. And even though the system is simple, you have to take enough care to make sure the profile is right, the messaging is aligned, and when people come in, you're saying the right things. Because everyone's wall is up initially.
Thankfully with IBIY, there's nothing quite like it, which is why our campaign response rates are well above what we'd set as a minimum standard for clients. And we've seen this work across so many different businesses. It's all about being real and putting in the work to do it right, not giving up after two weeks and saying it doesn't work. Being honest about what needs adjusting, whether it's the price point, the packaging, or the messaging.
Brendon Dennewill: You were alluding to having a core belief or mindset that guides you while building these pipelines. What is that?
Braxton Kilgo: I think there are a few key pieces. The first, as I mentioned, is serving, not selling. And alongside that: high intention, low attachment. When someone says no, or tells you they're not interested, you move on. That's a big one.
But the serving piece goes deeper than just a phrase. It means showing up on a call and being perfectly fine if no deal comes from it. At the end of a call where it's clearly not going anywhere, I'll ask: "Before we go, is there something I can do to help you?" And they'll often share what they're looking for. Then you do it. You make an introduction, send a resource, connect them with someone. And that person who was a "no" might end up introducing you to three people because of how you showed up.
In business, unfortunately there are a lot of people who are great at selling things they're not great at delivering. The real starting point is asking yourself honestly: does what I'm doing genuinely bring value? Is it actually helping people? If you get that foundation right, the rest becomes much easier, because the value is apparent.
I even tell our newer appointment setters, who don't know every detail of our production capacity or turnaround times yet: if you have an extremely high level of conviction in these conversations, grounded in knowing that this really helps people, that carries you far. You can say, "I don't know that number right off the top of my head, but I can get it for you. What I do know is..." And that alone, combined with genuine conviction, goes a long way. Some of our setters have never done this kind of work before and they're booking calls. Their conversations are real, raw, and honest, and conviction carries them.
Brendon Dennewill: So what I'm hearing is: if they genuinely believe this product is going to help whoever buys it, that confidence makes the work feel natural and easy.
Braxton Kilgo: Exactly.
Brendon Dennewill: You founded I Believe in You. How has that movement shaped the way you approach marketing and business growth today? And maybe before you answer that, give us a quick overview of what IBIY actually is.
Braxton Kilgo: I Believe in You is an innovative bracelet and mobile app company that's all about spreading small acts of kindness. We created a mobile app that allows you to measure the impact you're making.
We make bracelets that all say "I Believe in You" on them. They're all reversible, with different designs and colors on each side. The purpose is that you wear them with the intention to give them away to someone else, whether that's a friend, someone at a coffee shop, a family member, whoever it is. It's all about spreading small acts of kindness.
What's special about the technology is that we have a field communication chip underneath the patch of each bracelet. So let's say I took my bracelet off and gave it to you today, Brendon. You could touch your phone to your wrist and it would pull up a picture or video with a caption made specifically from me to you. You wouldn't just get the bracelet; you'd get a personal message from me.
But here's what's really cool: you'd also be able to see everyone who had that bracelet before you, all the way back to the first person. You can see every city and country it's traveled to, all the people and stories, and how many people have been impacted. And once you give it away, you get to watch where it goes around the world. In your profile, you can see how many cities and countries your bracelets have reached, and how many people have been impacted by your small acts of kindness. You can see it on a globe, connect with those people in the app, read their stories.
We call our customers "wave makers." The whole idea is to create a ripple effect of positivity around the world, one small act at a time. It takes five seconds and four words to change somebody's day, maybe even change their life.
Brendon Dennewill: Wow. It reminds me of the Maya Angelou quote: it's not what you say or what you do, it's how you make people feel. When you gift that bracelet to somebody and say "I believe in you," that is a moment they will never forget. And then when they pass it on to the next person, it's a completely different feeling of gratitude and generosity. It's such a uniquely powerful product.
And as you and I have talked about before, I saw you present IBIY at an event in Charlotte a couple of months ago, and I immediately started seeing opportunities for event companies. For corporate events with 200, 500, 3,000 people, this product is an incredible way to take the connection people experience at an event to the next level. If you're an event company listening to this and thinking about something meaningful for your next conference, whether it's 100 or 10,000 people, this is worth exploring.
Braxton Kilgo: What's cool is that even without the technology, we've been doing this for almost 10 years. The mobile app is just now coming into its full version, but we've put probably 100,000 bracelets out into the world. And even without the app, the stories we get from these micro moments are unbelievable. Just a piece of plastic that says it, and it's already powerful.
Some people will never use the app. Someone gets a bracelet from Brendon, and it means the world to them. They put it on their mirror and look at it every day, and that's exactly what they needed. That's perfect. But the technology gamifies it a little, connects people, and lets you witness the real power of small acts of kindness. That's what inspired the app in the first place. All of these incredible individual stories were coming in, and I thought: imagine if everyone could see all of them at once, not just one.
Brendon Dennewill: I'm struggling a little with the words "small acts" and "micro moments" because, really, there's nothing small or micro about them. These are thousands of dots connecting as part of a much bigger movement. The impact you can have on someone's life in that moment is profound.
Braxton Kilgo: That's so true. At the end of the day, telling somebody you believe in them and giving them a bracelet is something you can do in five seconds. There are bigger acts of kindness you can do. This one is simple and fast. That's why we call them small acts. But it's also why our tagline is "small acts of kindness, big waves of impact," because these little things, when you zoom out and see the full picture, start crossing borders and changing lives. Someone got a bracelet because they were struggling to leave their job and start their own business. They gave it to a friend who was struggling with something much darker. That bracelet getting to that person took five seconds. That's life.
Brendon Dennewill: A lot of business leaders struggle to balance purpose and performance in what seems like an increasingly metrics-driven world. How do you personally navigate that tension?
Braxton Kilgo: Different types of businesses have different priorities, and that's important. Not every company is purpose-forward in the same way, and that's okay. But I do believe that regardless of what business you run, it's worth finding some way to make a difference, even if it's something small.
I'm also a believer in the idea that giving gives back, not as the reason you do it, but as a natural outcome. And it doesn't have to be a grand initiative. A CEO who gives their team bracelets, that's morale. That's them communicating care and intention. It doesn't have to be everything for everyone, but finding some way to leave the world a little better is always worth it.
When I first started, my mantra was "impact over income." I still believe in the spirit of that, but I'd frame it differently today. That philosophy is actually why I had to put the company on pause when I was 19. I was giving everything away. We were making some money, but I just wanted to help people. And then when it came time to fund an extremely expensive mobile app development, there was nothing left.
So as a business, you absolutely have to focus on logistics, numbers, and margins. But within that structure, it's worth building in a small percentage, an extra 5 or 10 percent, or a dollar from every sale, directed toward something that matters to you, your team, or your community. That's a big reason we launched the collaboration side of our business. We allow any organization, whether it's a mental health company or a financial services firm, to create co-branded bracelets and run a movement like ours within their own organization. There are many ways to do it, and it doesn't have to be overly complex.
Brendon Dennewill: You mentioned when you were 19 and having to pause. What happened, and what made you eventually come back?
Braxton Kilgo: I'll give the high-level version. I went to college to play football, got injured my senior year, rehabbed it, but never got back to where I was supposed to be. So I dropped out, since I was on a scholarship and wasn't playing. I went back home, worked on the farm, went to the oil field, and eventually went back to school.
While I was there, I started a clothing company called Vision, all about helping people define their own version of success. Growing up, it felt like the only paths available were farm, factory, oil field, or football. I was chasing football, but I felt constricted. I had big dreams that didn't seem to fit within those options. So Vision was about telling people: whatever you love, go get it. You only live once.
The clothing company was doing well, but because of the messaging, I started getting invited to speak at middle schools, high schools, and graduations. And that's where the seed for IBIY was planted.
Before one school visit, the principal called me 24 to 48 hours ahead to give me some context about what the students were going through, both at school and at home. She spent about 10 minutes sharing some really heartbreaking information. I hung up, turned to my best friend, and said, "I wrote the wrong speech. I'm certainly not qualified to answer those questions, and I don't know what I'm going to do because I already told her I'd be there."
I frantically rewrote the speech. I had a label printer and printed out little stickers that said "I Believe in You." There were about 1,200 to 1,300 kids. The staff handed out stickers at the beginning of the assembly. At the end, I told them: "That sticker isn't yours. Trade it with the person next to you, give it to someone in the hallway, your favorite teacher, or go home and give it to your mom, your dad, your brother, your neighbor, the mailman. I don't care. Find somebody, take the message from today, and go give it to them."
A few days later, the principal called back and said, "Braxton, they ran with it." Kids were being nicer in the hallways, making new friends, being kinder to staff. Dozens of parents had called saying their kids came home wanting to have a conversation, or just wanting to go be kind to someone. When she told me that, I thought: those were ugly little stickers, and they ran with it. I should do this at every school. For all kids. For everybody.
That's where IBIY really came from. I turned it into bracelets, put it on a website, and it took off. People from around the world were posting. I got interviews with NFL Network, ABC, NBC. On the outside it looked like a huge company, but the reality was a kid living in his high school bedroom with a laptop and a box of bracelets, resharing customer stories. That was it.
Once I started receiving stories from around the world and decided I wanted to build the app, I announced it publicly. Suddenly thousands of people were waiting on it, and I had no resources, no connections, and didn't even know another entrepreneur to ask for guidance. Some businesses started approaching me about acquiring it, but every offer was essentially "good idea, kid. We'll take it from here." And their vision wasn't my vision. So I put it on pause.
I told everyone: I need to learn how to be a business person. I need to figure out how to build this app. I need a team and resources to do this right. I'll be back. It took longer than I thought, but I'm back.
Brendon Dennewill: That's awesome. How long was that period between when you paused and where you are now?
Braxton Kilgo: There have been different seasons where I've been more focused on it than others. When I first paused it, I almost had to make myself forget about it for a while so I could focus on other things. Every time I talked about it, it was all I wanted to do. It probably took about six or seven years before I really brought it back, because I got deep into scaling my other businesses. It was always what I wanted to do, but I knew I still had levels to reach.
I've been working on it really heavily for the past four years. From when I paused it to now, it's been eight to ten years depending on how you count it. It's been a long journey. For the past seven to eight months I've been full-time on IBIY. I don't operate in any of my other businesses anymore. We launched the e-commerce side of the business in January, and we've been doing our school tour and the B2B side for the past seven to eight months.
Brendon Dennewill: Wow, very cool. And as we wrap up 2025, what are you most excited about for IBIY in 2026?
Braxton Kilgo: The impact, for sure. Where we are right now with the deals we're doing, the partnerships, the collaborations, the school tour, with how little we market or promote, we don't post on social media at all, and we have some of the biggest names you can think of who are open to doing projects with us. As great as that is, what I'm really excited about is that once we kick off the e-commerce side, we're going to start talking. I just did a TV show, I'm going to start doing more podcasts, getting on stages, and we'll be posting.
Outside of our initial fan base and the people I have direct relationships with, nobody really knows IBIY exists right now. The exciting part is that we've built all of this with people who love it, without really telling the world. I'm excited to see what happens when we start getting it out there and people see what we've actually built.
Brendon Dennewill: From the 150 people in the room when you and I were together in October, 150 entrepreneurs, the general feeling after you presented IBIY was that you're barely scratching the surface. You're just getting started, even after all the years of thinking about it, working long hours, and talking to tens of thousands of people in schools and elsewhere. The cool part is that you're just getting started.
Braxton Kilgo: Yes, exactly. As much work as we've put into it, we know we're barely on the surface. I think this is one of those things people will look at and call an overnight success, very shortly. We've been building quietly, and now it's time to let people in.
Brendon Dennewill: And because it's so unique and so powerful at a deep, personal, human level, that's a big part of why. So, Braxton, we look forward to following your success. I know 2026 is going to be a huge year for you and for I Believe in You.
Brendon Dennewill: I want to wrap up with some advice. When we were together two months ago, you were one of the youngest people in that room, and people of all ages, 40, 50, 60, 70, were seeking you out for advice. So for the leaders listening to this podcast: what advice do you have for business leaders planning to do something bigger and different in 2026?
Braxton Kilgo: That's a good question. The answer would be different for different people if we had the chance to get specific. But going into this new year, I think the most important thing is making sure the vision is clear. Your North Star needs to be defined, and that definition of success shouldn't only be measured in numbers and revenue and margins. Make sure you know truly where you're headed.
At the same time, make sure it's something that genuinely fires you up, something you actually believe in. I've experienced plenty of burnout across my agency and other ventures. I was taking calls six days a week, free consulting, on the phone 10 to 12 hours a day. It was good and I was making money, but I started burning out because I wanted to be doing the thing I truly cared about.
Funny enough, since going all-in on IBIY, my schedule is actually more demanding than before, which is hard to believe. But I have so much more energy. Waking up and knowing I'm going to be at it from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. with no breaks feels completely different when I'm talking about IBIY all day.
There are situations where you build something for the financial freedom it creates, not necessarily because it's your passion, so you can fund or pursue the thing that truly drives you. That's valid. But make sure there's something in your life that fires you up, because one thing I know for certain: getting punched in the face and stumbling is part of the dance, whether you want it to be or not. If you don't have a big enough "why" and a drive that, when those moments come, makes you wipe the blood off and spit it out with a smile and say "let's go," it's going to be a lot harder. And it's already going to be hard.
So: clear vision, your team aligned with that vision, your team knowing you believe in them, and everyone fired up about something real. You can be fired up about helping people get more leads. Not everyone needs to be on a mission to make the world a better place through kindness. But being fired up about genuinely serving people, not just hitting revenue numbers, that's a really good North Star to have in any business.
Brendon Dennewill: Purpose, vision, and why. I think that's solid advice that's hard to argue with. Well, Braxton, thanks so much for sharing your story. We really do look forward to following the success that we all know I Believe in You will achieve in 2026 and beyond. Thanks so much for joining me today.
Braxton Kilgo: Thanks for having me on, Brendon.