The Inspired Stories Podcast

Anthony Codispoti
  • 5.0 (16)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Weekly

Anthony Codispoti has started, built, and sold a variety of successful businesses, including a 7-figure wholesale business (successful exit), a 7-figure consumer business (exited to private equity), a SaaS business (successful exit), and fiscally advantaged benefits. As an innovator and pioneer, he has been awarded patents, earned best seller badges, and gained scores of battle scars. In this show, we gain inspiration from the successes achieved and challenges overcome by today's business leaders.

  1. 17h ago

    JAG Insurance Agency's John Reed on Why “The Grass Is Greener Where You Water It”

    🎙️ Youngest Branch Manager in Company History: John Reed's Path to Founding JAG Insurance Agency In this episode, John Reed, founding president and CEO of JAG Insurance Agency, shares a career that began as an 11-year-old newspaper carrier and stretched through the Marine Corps, two decades in newspaper and media publishing, and a September 11th newscast that finally pushed him into insurance for good. John opens up about quitting a six-figure executive job the same day his insurance license arrived, the $223,000 in debt he carried the day he left his prior company, and how a book his wife set on his desk helped him reinvent himself once more to build JAG. ✨ Key Insights You'll Learn: Became the youngest branch manager in his newspaper company's history by age 15 Left insurance sales twice before committing full time, once after trying to serve “two masters” Watched the September 11th attacks unfold live on a warehouse TV the morning after deciding to quit his media job Quit his six-figure senior VP role the same day his insurance license came through in December Turned an unwanted stack of leads in a distant, overlooked territory into his first major sales success Built the second-fastest growing agency in his company's history within six months of relocating to Fresno Watched his prior company convert independent agency owners into employees and cut his pay 40% in 2009 Was $223,000 in debt and sold personal belongings, including signed sports memorabilia, before founding JAG Named JAG using his daughter's childhood idea, combining the initials of John, Ariel, and Gloria Built JAG around exclusively representing A-rated carriers with genuine living benefits, rather than a broad carrier list 🌟 John's Key Mentors: Nevin: The agency owner who first hired him, taught him his foundational sales philosophy, and later sold him the Upland agency for a fraction of its worth His Wife, Gloria: His business partner and co-founder who supported multiple career reinventions and helped inspire the JAG name His Daughter, Ariel: Invented the JAG name as a seven-year-old, later becoming one of its three founding initials Zig Ziglar: A personal mentor John met and spent time with multiple times before Ziglar's passing, whose group even visited John's office 👉 Hear how a lifelong overachiever who quit a six-figure job the same day he got licensed rebuilt himself from $223,000 in debt to found an insurance agency built on trust and real living benefits. 🔗 Connect with John Reed: Website: jag-insurance.com 📄 Transcript Available: JAG Insurance Agency's John Reed on Why “The Grass Is Greener Where You Water It” 📺 Watch on YouTube: Inspired Stories Podcast 🌐 Our Website: The Inspired Stories Podcast 📄 Special Thanks to Anthony Codispoti & AddBack Benefits Agency: AddBack Benefits Agency - Providing innovative employee benefits solutions that improve employee well-being while optimizing your bottom line Website: addbackbenefits.com

  2. 1d ago

    Josh Ramsey Took a 25 Percent Pay Cut to Start Over at the Bottom and Did It With Four Kids and a Mortgage

    Josh Ramsey, CPA and Managing Director at Cherry Bekaert, taught himself Excel in a casino count room in 2000 because nobody else would, got promoted off the back of a spreadsheet nobody asked him to build, and spent the next decade earning a degree at 34 with four kids, a mortgage, and his father’s passing three weeks before his first day at Cal State Long Beach. The career pivot that followed — a 25 percent pay cut to start over as a staff accountant at a public accounting firm — paid off across nearly 12 years of fractional CFO work, MA advisory, and deals ranging from Friday cash crises to COVID-era add-backs bigger than the EBITDA itself. ✨ Key Insights You’ll Learn: Building an Excel spreadsheet in a casino count room in 2000 that earned him a promotion nobody expected Why practical coursework at a community college stuck when a traditional four-year path hadn’t Going back to school full-time with four kids, a mortgage, and his father’s death three weeks before transfer Taking a 25 percent pay cut to start at the bottom of a public accounting firm and why it was the right call Why public accounting’s pyramid structure rewards long-term builders in a way private accounting never can What the Friday cash crisis call actually looked like and why the fix took six months, not a weekend The 13-week rolling cash flow as a triage tool and the human psychology of walking business owners down the mountain The COVID-era food packaging deal where the add-back exceeded the EBITDA — and how they sold it What consistently adds value to a deal: transition plans, clean financials, and knowing your walk-away number before you go to market The $10 million financing lease gotcha that hit 90 days after close because nobody read the agreement right 🌟 Josh’s Key Mentors: Romy (Cage Manager, Gardens Casino): Recognized the count room spreadsheet for what it was and promoted Josh into accounting — the first domino Jeff Richardson (Founding Partner, RKE): The man Josh kept showing up to meet at Beta Alpha Psi events until he finally just asked for a job Charmaine (RKE Consulting Partner): The first person who showed Josh what the consulting work actually looked like and matched it to his skill set His Wife: Stepped in completely when his father died three weeks before his first day of university, managing the estate and the household so Josh could keep moving 👉 Don’t miss this conversation about what it actually means to start over with everything on the line, why the hardest part of a cash crisis isn’t the math, and how a casino count room in Torrance, California turned out to be the best accounting school Josh Ramsey ever attended. 🔗 Connect with Josh Ramsey: Website: cbh.com 📤 Transcript Available: Josh Ramsey Took a 25 Percent Pay Cut to Start Over at the Bottom and Did It With Four Kids and a Mortgage 📺 Watch on YouTube: Inspired Stories Podcast 🌐 Our Website: The Inspired Stories Podcast 📤 Special Thanks to Anthony Codispoti & AddBack Benefits Agency — Providing innovative employee benefits solutions that improve employee well-being while optimizing your bottom line. Website: addbackbenefits.com

  3. 5d ago

    Nobody Pulls Themselves Up Alone, Ron Wadley Says of Building Insurance for Texans

    🎙️ From Cold Texting to True Texas Church Insurance: Ron Wadley's Path to Insurance for Texans In this episode, Ron Wadley, owner and general solver of problems at Insurance for Texans, shares how a childhood spent in small Texas and Missouri towns, a broken marriage, and a captive insurance career too limited to solve his clients' real problems led him to build one of the state's most creative independent agencies. Ron opens up about the divorce that nearly broke him, the friends who put him back together, and how his agency built a specialty church insurance program that stepped in when a major Texas insurer abandoned the market. ✨ Key Insights You'll Learn: Grew up in small Texas and Missouri towns as a preacher's son, sometimes unsure where the next meal would come from Attended Baylor University on a scholarship funded by a stranger with no connection to his hometown Opened a captive Farmers insurance agency in 2013 after leaving corporate life behind Received a cease and desist after hyper-targeting employees of a specific company in his digital ads Launched Insurance for Texans as a separate, initially anonymous brand to escape his captive agency's brand bias Sold his Farmers agency and converted Insurance for Texans into a full independent brokerage in 2017 Grew the business 30% in the final nine months of 2020 by already operating fully through video and digital tools Built a specialty church insurance program after a major Texas insurer non-renewed roughly 30% of the state's churches Wrote “The Promise of Certainty,” outlining 14 types of coverage churches often overlook Hosts a podcast using an AI voice clone built from his own writing, one his wife and mother can barely distinguish from him 🌟 Ron's Key Mentors: His First Corporate Boss: Took a chance hiring him with zero experience, then years later helped him find a better-paying job when he'd outgrown the role Patsy Hollingsworth: A stranger from East Texas whose scholarship fund unexpectedly paid for Ron's education at Baylor Two Friends From Church: Walked alongside him through his darkest months after his divorce, becoming lifelong friends he could still call today A Baylor Network Connection: Reached out with a hedge fund job opportunity right as Ron was reeling from the 2008 financial crisis 👉 Hear how a preacher's son from small-town Texas built an insurance agency around digital-first solutions, then created a specialty church coverage program that stepped in when a major insurer walked away. 🔗 Connect with Ron Wadley: Website: insurancefortexans.com Book: thepromiseofcertainty.com 📄 Transcript Available: Nobody Pulls Themselves Up Alone, Ron Wadley Says of Building Insurance for Texans 📺 Watch on YouTube: Inspired Stories Podcast 🌐 Our Website: The Inspired Stories Podcast 📄 Special Thanks to Anthony Codispoti & AddBack Benefits Agency: AddBack Benefits Agency - Providing innovative employee benefits solutions that improve employee well-being while optimizing your bottom line Website: addbackbenefits.com

  4. 6d ago

    Building Transferable Businesses: Greg DeSimone's Client-First Approach to Business Exits

    🎙️ Prepared to Sell: Greg DeSimone's Journey From Corporate Finance to Exit Advisory In this episode, Greg DeSimone, founder and president of Catapult Advisory Group, shares how a corporate finance career built on compliance work and 80-hour weeks led to a panic disorder diagnosis, an unceremonious firing, and eventually a mergers and acquisitions advisory firm built on honest referrals rather than hard selling. Greg opens up about the staff revolt that reshaped his leadership style, the moment he walked out of a New York office and kept walking, and how he built Catapult from six LinkedIn contacts into a firm serving family businesses nationwide. ✨ Key Insights You'll Learn: Spent four years auditing companies at Deloitte before moving into controller roles Cut a monthly close cycle from roughly 25 days to 8 by moving routine work earlier in the month Generated over a million dollars in unbudgeted revenue by convincing two large clients to buy out discontinued software licenses Survived a staff revolt at Domain Home that reshaped how he communicated with his team Migrated five company acquisitions onto Oracle Financials while at Staples Developed general panic disorder while working 60 to 80 hour weeks at Princeton Review Was fired after a subordinate's uncaught error delayed a public filing, and walked away without severance or bonus Founded Catapult Advisory Group in 2008 during the financial crisis through a partnership with Focal Point Business Coaching Built his first clients from just six honest, no-pressure conversations with LinkedIn contacts Tracks referrals given versus received and has averaged nearly two back for every one given 🌟 Greg's Key Mentors: The CEO and CFO of Domain Home: Mentored him early in his career and helped him see the human side of leading a finance team His Staff at Domain Home: Their pushback, though painful, taught him how to lead without demotivating people David Humphrey and Jeff Muir: Mentors at B Connecticut Advisors who helped him jumpstart the transactional side of his advisory work His Wife: Urged him to walk away from a toxic work environment rather than accept a face-saving compromise 👉 Hear how a finance executive who once developed panic disorder from corporate pressure built an exit planning firm rooted in honesty, patience, and helping family businesses transfer well. 🔗 Connect with Greg DeSimone: Website: catapultadvisorygroup.com 📄 Transcript Available: Building Transferable Businesses:  Greg DeSimone's Client-First Approach to Business Exits 📺 Watch on YouTube: Inspired Stories Podcast 🌐 Our Website: The Inspired Stories Podcast 📄 Special Thanks to Anthony Codispoti & AddBack Benefits Agency: AddBack Benefits Agency - Providing innovative employee benefits solutions that improve employee well-being while optimizing your bottom line Website: addbackbenefits.com

  5. Oct 23

    Follow the Data: Mark Denkler's Journey From $2 Billion in Banking to Independent Shoe Retail

    🎙️ Keeping Independent Shoe Stores Alive: Mark Denkler's Leadership at the National Shoe Retailers Association In this episode, Mark Denkler, president of the National Shoe Retailers Association, shares how he turned down a $50,000 job managing his uncle's shoe stores for a $19,000 banking role at Fuji Bank, rose through corporate finance working on billion-dollar deals, and eventually walked away to run his family's shoe store instead. Mark opens up about being passed over for promotion, misjudging his own uncle's business as a young banker, and the rent increase that ultimately forced him to close the store his grandfather opened in 1952. ✨ Key Insights You'll Learn: Turned down a $50,000 job managing his uncle's three shoe stores for a $19,000 banking job at Fuji Bank Was blindsided by an annual review revealing fee income, not client satisfaction, was the real measure of his job Was the only one of four peers not promoted to vice president in his cohort Worked on billion-dollar leveraged buyout deals, including financing $4 billion for a Kroger dividend recapitalization Left banking in 1994 to take over Vince Canning's Shoes in Delray Beach, the store his grandfather opened in 1952 Bought a second store, Tootsie's, entirely with cash rather than financing it through debt Watched his original store's rent jump from $150,000 to $300,000 a year, forcing a decision to close Underestimated the 2008 financial crisis, planning for a 10% sales decline that turned into 40 to 50% Closed his stores in 2019 and 2020 rather than sign a new $1.5 million, five-year lease Now leads an organization representing roughly 2,800 of the 6,000 remaining independent shoe stores nationwide 🌟 Mark's Key Mentors: His Uncle: Ran a successful shoe store business for 45 years, a longevity Mark initially doubted as a young banker His Wife, LaOnda: Shared his financially conservative instincts, enabling the couple to buy a second store entirely in cash His Grandfather: Opened Vince Canning's Shoes in 1952, the store Mark would later run for over two decades His City's Local Leaders: Redeveloped downtown Delray Beach in a way that ultimately reshaped the retail environment Mark's stores operated in 👉 Hear how a banker who once doubted his own uncle's shoe business ended up running that same store for decades, then built a second career keeping the entire independent shoe industry alive. 🔗 Connect with Mark Denkler: Website: nsra.org 📄 Transcript Available: Follow the Data: Mark Denkler's Journey From $2 Billion in Banking to Independent Shoe Retail 📺 Watch on YouTube: Inspired Stories Podcast 🌐 Our Website: The Inspired Stories Podcast 📄 Special Thanks to Anthony Codispoti & AddBack Benefits Agency: AddBack Benefits Agency - Providing innovative employee benefits solutions that improve employee well-being while optimizing your bottom line Website: addbackbenefits.com

  6. Oct 23

    Highland Cattle and Outdoor Grows: Inside Nova Farms' Unconventional Cannabis Model

    🎙️ From Store Merchandiser to COO: Lynnette French's Path to Nova Farms In this episode, Lynnette French, Chief Operating Officer of Nova Farms, shares how 18 years climbing the ranks at Urban Outfitters led her into Massachusetts' earliest cannabis dispensaries, through a multi-state restructuring at Parallel, and eventually into the COO seat at a company built around large-scale outdoor cannabis farming. Lynnette opens up about the layoffs that wore her down over years, the leap of faith that took her back to business school in her forties, and why Nova Farms is betting on scale over overhead in an industry that keeps eating its competitors alive. ✨ Key Insights You'll Learn: Spent 18 years rising from store merchandiser to senior district manager at Urban Outfitters Left retail after a single visit to an early Massachusetts dispensary changed how she saw the industry Joined Neta as director of retail operations after cold-emailing the founder a compliment Spent a full week managing the fallout after a disassembled vape battery ignited on the sales floor Learned hard lessons about product quality after a rushed edibles launch produced “sweaty gummies” in Florida Led an executive team through roughly a decade at Parallel, including years of repeated layoffs during a 2022 restructuring Left the unfinished restructure to protect her own wellbeing after years of delivering bad news Enrolled in an MBA program at Boston University's Questrom School of Business to close a private equity knowledge gap Became COO of Nova Farms, overseeing cultivation, manufacturing, and retail across four Northeast states Champions Nova's outdoor-grow model, betting that scale without heavy overhead beats indoor cultivation's cost structure 🌟 Lynnette's Key Mentors: Her Leader at Neta: First taught her about ego, a concept she initially dismissed before it reshaped her entire approach to leadership Her Longtime Extraction Expert: A trusted technical partner of nearly eight years who helped her master cannabis chemistry she never learned in retail Derek Ross (CEO, Nova Farms): A foster-care system survivor turned successful entrepreneur whose story shapes Nova's Puffers with Purpose giving program Her MBA Peer Cohort: A group of fellow driven professionals who gave her the feedback and camaraderie she'd stopped receiving as a C-suite executive 👉 Hear how a retail veteran who once ran Urban Outfitters stores now runs cannabis farms across four states, betting that radical transparency and outdoor-scale growing can outlast an industry full of costly restructurings. 🔗 Connect with Lynnette French: Website: novafarms.com 📄 Transcript Available: Highland Cattle and Outdoor Grows: Inside Nova Farms' Unconventional Cannabis Model 📺 Watch on YouTube: Inspired Stories Podcast 🌐 Our Website: The Inspired Stories Podcast 📄 Special Thanks to Anthony Codispoti & AddBack Benefits Agency: AddBack Benefits Agency - Providing innovative employee benefits solutions that improve employee well-being while optimizing your bottom line Website: addbackbenefits.com

  7. Oct 20

    The Restaurant Owner on His Corner Became the First Client of David Tunstall and the Tunstall Organization

    🎙️ From Arthur Andersen to Charlotte, David Tunstall Built the Tunstall Organization One Referral at a Time David Tunstall, founder and president of the Tunstall Organization, is a CPA and fractional CFO who started his own firm after being laid off from AIG. He shares how a restaurant owner on his corner became his first client, what he learned as finance director for the American Friends of the Louvre, and how he rebuilt his business after moving from New York to Charlotte. He also opens up about a failed options fund, losing clients to growth, and the faith that helps him see the good in hard moments. ✨ Key Insights You'll Learn: Turning a layoff into a CPA firm Finding a first client on the street corner Auditor referrals as a growth engine Rebuilding a client base in a new city BNI and honing a 30-second message Fund accounting for a cultural nonprofit Lessons from a failed options fund Building accounting tools with AI The 13-week cash forecast Losing clients to growth 🌟 David's Key Mentors: A fellow BNI member and former CFO: a weekly sounding board His father and brother: partners in Red Fox Capital A nonprofit auditor: the referral source behind his early growth His first restaurant client: proof that asking opens doors 👉 Don't miss this conversation about building a firm on relationships and finding the good in losing a client. 🔗 Connect with David Tunstall: Website: tunstallorg.com 📄 Transcript Available: The Restaurant Owner on His Corner Became the First Client of David Tunstall and the Tunstall Organization 📺 Watch on YouTube: Inspired Stories Podcast 🌐 Our Website: The Inspired Stories Podcast 📄 Special Thanks to Anthony Codispoti & AddBack Benefits Agency: AddBack Benefits Agency - Providing innovative employee benefits solutions that improve employee well-being while optimizing your bottom line Website: addbackbenefits.com

  8. Oct 20

    Yoga Studios to Exits: Kristin Abel and Mitch McGinley of Boutique Fitness Broker

    🎙️ From Broker and Client to Business Partners, Mitch McGinley and Kristin Abel Built Boutique Fitness Broker Together Mitch McGinley, founder and CEO of Boutique Fitness Broker, and Kristin Abel, its president, both left corporate finance careers to own yoga studios before becoming broker and client, then partners. Mitch shares how a failed first sale taught him what buyers need, and why he told Kristin to wait a year before listing her studio. Kristin talks about letting go of a business that had become her identity, and together they explain how honest advice drives an 80% success rate. ✨ Key Insights You'll Learn: From corporate finance to yoga studio ownership Getting the right people in the right seats A failed sale and the fixes that led to a 5x exit Showing true profit on your tax returns Telling a seller to wait for a better price Selling a studio through COVID Why clients shouldn't know who pays the rent Contractors versus W-2 employees in a sale Three kinds of buyers for boutique studios Separating your identity from your business 🌟 Mitch and Kristin's Key Mentors: Mitch's mother-in-law: 40-year studio owner and his model for entrepreneurship Mitch's in-laws: the support that let him build the firm through COVID Mitch's older brother: his rock after losing their father Kristin's life coach: helped her process the loss of her studio Each other: a client relationship that became a partnership 👉 Don't miss this conversation about honest advice, letting go, and helping studio owners exit on their terms. 🔗 Connect with Mitch McGinley and Kristin Abel: Website: boutiquefitnessbroker.com 📄 Transcript Available: Yoga Studios to Exits: Kristin Abel and Mitch McGinley of Boutique Fitness Broker  📺 Watch on YouTube: Inspired Stories Podcast  🌐 Our Website: The Inspired Stories Podcast  📄 Special Thanks to Anthony Codispoti & AddBack Benefits Agency: AddBack Benefits Agency - Providing innovative employee benefits solutions that improve employee well-being while optimizing your bottom line Website: addbackbenefits.com

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5
out of 5
16 Ratings

About

Anthony Codispoti has started, built, and sold a variety of successful businesses, including a 7-figure wholesale business (successful exit), a 7-figure consumer business (exited to private equity), a SaaS business (successful exit), and fiscally advantaged benefits. As an innovator and pioneer, he has been awarded patents, earned best seller badges, and gained scores of battle scars. In this show, we gain inspiration from the successes achieved and challenges overcome by today's business leaders.

Information

  • Creator
    Anthony Codispoti
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    592
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Anthony Codispoti
  • Show Website
    The Inspired Stories Podcast