Ep 619: From $25 to $1 Million a Month: The Marketing Machine Behind a $300M Exit with Lee Pepper

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When Rory Vaden first walked into Lee Pepper’s marketing “war room,” he had no idea how that moment would change the trajectory of his career. On this episode, we sit down with Lee Pepper (a U.S. Army veteran, marketing strategist, and author of Never Outmatched) to unpack how to blend military precision with data-driven strategy to make your marketing stronger and more powerful than ever. 

Lee shares the frameworks that helped him grow Foundations Recovery Network sixtyfold and lead a $300 million exit. Our conversation bridges the gap between creative intuition and hard metrics, helping you see marketing not as a gamble but as a real, measurable science. 

If you’ve ever felt deceived by vanity metrics or frustrated by agencies that can’t show clear ROI, this episode will teach you how to build your own “vending machine” — where every dollar in leads to measurable value out. 

KEY POINTS FROM THIS EPISODE

  • How to replace your marketing guesswork with measurable inputs and outputs  
  • The secret to making marketing a language your CFO understands 
  • How to build your own “vending machine,” where every dollar IN leads to measurable value OUT 
  • The expensive difference between a marketing strategy and marketing tactics 
  • How to create your own KPIs that tie directly to revenue 
  • Why force multiplication (i.e. repurposing and amplifying your content) is the secret to doing more with less 
  • The right way to test paid traffic without going broke (so you can avoid “Vegas marketing”) 
  • How AI is reshaping search and how to respond so your content doesn’t get lost 

QUOTABLE MOMENTS

“Marketing stops being a mystery when you make decisions from data instead of opinion.” – Lee Pepper [00:03:15] 

“I don’t create traffic. I capture traffic.” – Lee Pepper [00:24:15] 

“You can’t win a war just because a soldier knows how to shoot. That’s tactics without strategy.” – Lee Pepper [00:18:05] 

“If you know your numbers, marketing becomes a vending machine: you put money in, you know what comes out.” – Lee Pepper [00:13:25] 

“Most businesses look at marketing like a tax. You should see it as your revenue engine.” – Lee Pepper [00:45:00] 

About LEE PEPPER

Lee combines his experience in the U.S. Army, IT, and marketing to build strong teams and effective leaders. With over 10,000 behavioral healthcare calls personally reviewed, he brings a deep understanding of how to solve marketing, operational, and attribution challenges. Today, he consults with multiple behavioral health programs, helping them set up KPIs, assess marketing and admissions teams, build brands, and strengthen leadership.

During his time at Foundations Recovery Network, Lee played a key role in driving company growth that led to a $350 million acquisition by Universal Health Services. He also built internal digital marketing teams for Kohlberg & Co.-backed organizations such as Meadows Behavioral Healthcare and SpecialtyCare, combining data-driven strategies with strong leadership to drive results and improve performance.

Lee’s work includes launching two treatment centers, creating four podcasts, and leading the Heroes in Recovery social movement. His campaigns have been featured in The Passion Conversation, and his innovative marketing strategies have helped transform how behavioral healthcare organizations connect, serve, and grow. He also continues to give back by mentoring veterans through his local Veteran’s Treatment Court.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Buy Lee’s Book, Never Outmatched 

Lee Pepper’s Website 

Lee Pepper on Instagram    

Lee Pepper on LinkedIn 

Rory Vaden’s Website 

Rory Vaden on Instagram 

Rory Vaden on Facebook  

Rory Vaden on LinkedIn 

Rory Vaden on X 

Rory Vaden on YouTube  

Brand Builders Group 

Free Strategy Call 

Email Your Review 

Right. And we didn’t, we didn’t write it all day one. It was a living document that we [00:49:45] added to every month. Right. And that, and the same thing with technology. We had a, a, a very [00:49:50] detailed technology plan, and I think that’s where that came out of because being a former CIO and working for Ross per, [00:49:55] you know, we were very, everything had to be very well documented ’cause we worked a lot with banking and [00:50:00] healthcare. And so the same thing if your marketing team is not. Willing to document what they’re [00:50:05] doing and it can be readable. Or in a presentation you have a problem. Hmm. Right, because it should be [00:50:10] accessible, right? Because you want to have things that when somebody leaves to go and [00:50:15] pursue other opportunities or greener pastures like that, knowledge just doesn’t go away. And like, you wonder, oh, what [00:50:20] happened to all that testing we did last year? Well, I don’t know what happened to it. Like, you don’t wanna lose that. Mm-hmm. Like, it’s, it’s, [00:50:25] it’s valuable. And I think that was one of the things that helped us, A lot of people say [00:50:30] that when they, when we sold foundations, uh, what we really sold was, was the marketing engine [00:50:35] because it was a, a revenue, it was so much revenue generating. Both: Mm-hmm. Yeah. [00:50:40] Thank you for this because I think you make what you talk about in [00:50:45] Never outmatched and the things you’re talking about today. It makes marketing about [00:50:50] data, documentation, and I would say predictability. Mm-hmm. It’s [00:50:55] all about going, what levers do we need to push and pull on? And we know exactly [00:51:00] when that mm-hmm. If that, if we do that, then this is the outcome. Yes. And once you figure out that [00:51:05] equation. Yeah. There’s, there’s literally no limit to how far you can scale. [00:51:10] Absolutely. ’cause you’re just constantly tweaking and testing and it’s like, you don’t start out spending a million dollars a month. Right. [00:51:15] But you, and you, you might go a million dollars a month. I remember when you said that, where you spend a million dollars a month. [00:51:20] I was like, like, I was like a million dollars a month on, on ads. But you go, [00:51:25] but you start with a hundred dollars a month. Mm-hmm. And you tweak it. Yeah. And [00:51:30] you test it, and you track it, and you document it, and you optimize it. And then you tweak it, and then it’s like [00:51:35] that a hundred becomes 500 and that becomes 1,010 thousand and 30. And then. It’s a million dollars a [00:51:40] month and you go, of course nobody can compete with us. Yeah. We’re buying all the [00:51:45] traffic. Yes, we’re buying all the prospects and I think it really demystifies [00:51:50] marketing for everybody. Lee Lee Pepper: Roy, the, the, the 2006 when I had left Perot and [00:51:55] gone to work for, pass along a digital music company that was starting up here in Nashville. You know what our daily [00:52:00] paid search budget was back then? Mm. $25. Nice. And we were like, [00:52:05] oh, let’s don’t break the bank. You know? And it’s, it’s just funny how we, when you, when you mentioned the million dollars, I mean, [00:52:10] yeah. We got to a point where we were spending a million dollars a month and how do you go from $25 to a million? [00:52:15] I mean, you know, it’s, it, you, you do it over time. Yeah. You know, and, and you get your, and you get the, the [00:52:20] expertise. You’re Both: not guessing, right. You’re not just going, let’s throw a million and see what happens. Yeah, Lee Pepper: absolutely. [00:52:25] Absolutely. Both: Awesome. Well go get the book. Okay. Never Outmatched is the book. Uh, follow my [00:52:30] friend Lee Pepper. He is a sage wis piece of wisdom and advice on all of these [00:52:35] things. Um, so make sure you follow him and check him out. We’ll put links to all that in the show notes. If you haven’t [00:52:40] requested a call with our team, this is the level of sophistication that we want to take you to with your personal [00:52:45] brand. We want to, we want you to know that.

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25 of the World's Most Recognizable Influencers Share Their Tips on How to Build and Monetize a Personal Brand

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