Capital City Times
In a world obsessed with scaling faster, few stop to ask whether their business is actually supporting their life—or slowly consuming it. Bill Kruse, CEO of Legacy Architects and author of Permission to Change, believes it’s time founders reclaimed control over their own success story.
From the quiet soils of the Midwest to the executive boardrooms of KPMG and Ernst & Young, Kruse’s journey is rooted in patience, planning, and purpose. He began his career as a farmer, learning firsthand that sustainable growth takes time and intention. Eventually, he traded tractors for tax codes, building a decades-long career in finance and strategy before founding Legacy Architect, LLC—a firm dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and families design lives and legacies that last.
In Permission to Change, Kruse challenges the traditional narrative that a business must consume its founder. Instead, he outlines a blueprint for building organizations strong enough to withstand the unpredictable swings of life and the economy. “Your business should support your life—not drain it,” Kruse emphasizes. “Resilience isn’t about avoiding challenges. It’s about designing systems, people, and habits that let you thrive through them.”
The book serves as both a philosophical manifesto and a practical checklist. Through clear steps, real stories, and reflective exercises, Kruse helps readers align their business goals with personal purpose. The result is not just a profitable company, but a sustainable legacy.
What sets Kruse apart from others in his field is his ability to bridge hard financial logic with human purpose. His experience at global firms like KPMG and Ernst & Young gave him deep insight into how businesses grow, scale, and transfer. But it was his work with clients facing life’s biggest transitions—exits, acquisitions, estate planning, and succession—that gave birth to his philosophy: legacy isn’t something you leave behind, it’s something you live every day, on purpose, with a plan.
For CEOs and founders over thirty who are tired of the endless grind, Permission to Change is a call to action. It’s not about slowing down—it’s about building smarter. The book’s frameworks teach leaders how to reorganize their companies for long-term resilience, prepare for inevitable market shifts, and create businesses that thrive independently of the founder. It’s a guide for those who want their work to empower their lives, not consume them.
Available now on Amazon and BookBaby, Kruse’s message is already inspiring business leaders to rethink the meaning of success. As he puts it, success without sustainability is failure in disguise. Through Permission to Change and his work with Legacy Architect, Bill Kruse is helping founders not just grow wealth—but grow well.
