The Inspired Stories Podcast

Anthony Codispoti
  • 5.0 (15)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated 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. 14h ago

    An Extra $1.25 Million Was Hiding in a Client’s Deal — Samir Mokashi Found It

    🎙️ From Bombay to Business Millionaires Club: Samir Mokashi's Journey Building and Selling Code Unlimited In this episode, Samir Mokashi, founder of Business Millionaires Club, shares how he built a building-code consulting firm with his wife, grew it onto the Inc. 5000 list, and sold it in 2022, only to face the unexpected challenge of rebuilding his identity from scratch. Samir opens up about being underestimated as an immigrant entrepreneur, the marriage rules that protected his 50-50 business partnership, and how he now helps other founders prepare their companies for a premium exit. ✨ Key Insights You'll Learn: Trained as an architect in Bombay before studying daylighting design at the University of Oregon Sold nonprofit memberships door-to-door before landing his first architecture job Became a specialist in building codes for semiconductor fabrication plants Co-founded Code Unlimited with his wife under a strict 50-50 partnership Set firm rules separating business talk from family life at home Broke his own expertise into delegable skill sets to scale beyond himself Took Code Unlimited onto the Inc. 5000 list before selling in 2022 Felt an unexpected identity void after a successful exit, calling it “starting over” Negotiated a $1.25 million increase for a client by reframing the buyer's real motivation Wrote “The Millionaire Exit,” focused on culture as the foundation of a strong sale 🌟 Samir's Key Mentors: His Father: A respected chemical engineer whose encouragement to travel shaped his path abroad Asawari Mokashi (Wife & Business Partner): Insisted on equal partnership and set the boundaries that protected their family The Architect Who Hired Him During the Recession: Gave him his entry into semiconductor facility work at IDC Everyday Customers From His Door-to-Door Sales Days: Taught him how to earn trust and close quickly 👉 Hear how an immigrant architect turned being underestimated into a superpower, built and sold a multimillion-dollar consulting firm, and is now helping other founders exit on their own terms. 🔗 Connect with Samir Mokashi: LinkedIn: Samir Mokashi, Business Millionaires Club 📄 Transcript Available: An Extra $1.25 Million Was Hiding in a Client’s Deal — Samir Mokashi Found 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

    Tayyab Rizvi Built a Marketplace to Give Restaurant Managers Their American Dream

    🎙️ From Cheerios to Chicken Over Rice: Tayyab Rizvi's Journey Building ScaleMates In this episode, Tayyab Rizvi, CEO and founder of ScaleMates, shares how a decade at Google, YouTube, and Patreon led him to a real-world experiment inside his own family's restaurant franchise portfolio. Tayyab opens up about the A/B test that revealed why salaried managers underperform invested owners, and how that insight became a marketplace connecting franchise owners with vetted operating partners who put their own capital on the line. ✨ Key Insights You'll Learn: Immigrated from Karachi to Toronto at age seven before settling in New York Helped General Mills win Canada's Marketer of the Year with early digital campaigns Moved from Google's ad business to shaping YouTube's creator tools Left YouTube for Patreon to get closer to the creator economy's front lines Ran an A/B test between a salaried GM and an invested operator in the family business Found operators need as little as $10,000 in skin in the game for real accountability Structures deals so profit sharing can cover part of an operator's investment Scaled the family's restaurant portfolio to 15 locations across 13 states Focuses on emerging restaurant brands hungry for national growth Wants ScaleMates to give overlooked operators access to the American dream 🌟 Tayyab's Key Mentors: His Parents: Civil engineers who moved the family from Pakistan for better opportunity General Mills Digital Marketing Team: Gave him his first grounding in brand-building fundamentals Rishi Nigam: Fellow corporate-to-founder mentor who grounds him through the ups and downs of building ScaleMates Hussain (Brother-in-Law): Co-built the ScaleMates model alongside him from their own restaurant operations 👉 Hear how a former Google and YouTube executive turned a side-by-side test in his family's restaurants into a marketplace built on trust and shared ownership. 🔗 Connect with Tayyab Rizvi: Website: ScaleMates.co Email: trizvi@ScaleMates.co 📄 Transcript Available: Tayyab Rizvi Built a Marketplace to Give Restaurant Managers Their American Dream 📺 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

  3. 1d ago

    Without Charging a Fee, Dave Parker Helped Founders Raise $400 Million

    🎙️ From Five Startups to One Playbook: Dave Parker's Journey Building Trajectory In this episode, Dave Parker, founder and chair of Trajectory, shares lessons from founding five companies, selling three, and closing two, all while surviving a personal bankruptcy and two family cancer diagnoses along the way. Dave opens up about the emotional isolation of founder life, the moment his own attorney reminded him whose side he was really on, and why he's now building a coaching network to help other founders exit well. ✨ Key Insights You'll Learn: Started his first company two weeks before his wife's cancer diagnosis Grew License Online from zero to $32 million before selling to a billion-dollar rival Shut down a hardware startup after realizing it had no real problem to solve Shut down a second startup after discovering its cost to sell exceeded its revenue Identified 14 revenue models used across the tech industry Built the Founder Cohort Program, helping 375 companies raise $400 million with no fee Wrote Trajectory Startup, named a top HubSpot business book of 2021 Survived a 2008 personal bankruptcy and two family cancer journeys Uses AI daily to draft product requirement documents and financial forecasts Is writing Trajectory Exit to help founders navigate selling their companies 🌟 Dave's Key Mentors: His Wife: Partner through cancer, bankruptcy, and every founder decision along the way Brad Feld: Wrote the foreword to his first book and modeled openness about mental health Rich Barton: His “power to the people” framework shaped how Dave evaluates startup ideas His Former Boss at Excel Data: Supported his leap into entrepreneurship and remains a close friend 👉 Hear how a five-time founder who survived bankruptcy and cancer is now building a coaching network to help other entrepreneurs exit their life's work well. 🔗 Connect with Dave Parker: Website: gettrajectory.com 📄 Transcript Available: Without Charging a Fee, Dave Parker Helped Founders Raise $400 Million  📺 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. 2d ago

    Connie Russell on What It Takes to Lead a Property That Dates Back to 1889 and Still Feels Like It Belongs to the Community

    Connie Russell, General Manager of Samoset Resort in Rockport, Maine, started in hospitality doing landscaping at his father’s motel, cooked under a Swiss chef in Western Maine, and worked his way up through a dozen Ocean Properties locations before landing at a 230-acre waterfront resort in 1999 that dated back to 1889 and needed a full refresh. He has been there ever since — through two economic recessions, a pandemic, and a month in 2023 when he lost three members of his team in thirty days while a conference of four thousand was three weeks away. ✨ Key Insights You’ll Learn: Growing up as a second-generation hotelier, doing landscaping and maintenance and housekeeping at his father’s motel Cooking under a Swiss chef at a seasonal resort in Western Maine and later at the Asticou Inn on Mount Desert Island What founder Tom Walsh showed him about a dirty outlet plate and why it still shapes how Connie runs the property Arriving at Samoset in 1999 and immediately leading a full renovation of 178 rooms, corridors, and 20,000 square feet of meeting space The lobby floor made of 5,000 cross-cut sections of recycled granary beams — and why it will never be touched What makes the golf course the Pebble Beach of the East and why it earns that comparison How Samoset manages 72 timeshare units, 178 hotel keys, four cottages, and a full conference business simultaneously Losing three team members in one month while preparing for a four-thousand-person trade show How Samoset builds loyalty with 16-year-old local hires and develops them into career hospitality professionals The interview question Connie uses to find out whether someone is worth hiring before he calls a single reference 🌟 Connie’s Key Mentors: His Father: A motel operator who put Connie to work in landscaping, maintenance, and housekeeping before he was ever old enough to fully appreciate what he was learning Tom Walsh (Founder, Ocean Properties): Walked Connie through the hotel every morning and taught him what the responsibility of an innkeeper actually looks like at the most granular level The Swiss Chef at the Western Maine Resort: Taught Connie how to cook at a professional level and gave him an early appreciation for standards imported from somewhere else The Walsh Family Sons: Gave Connie the autonomy to lead without micromanaging and created the culture of trust that has kept him at Samoset for over a quarter century 👉 Don’t miss this conversation about what it means to put your career into one place for twenty-seven years and watch it become something extraordinary, why the hardest month of Connie’s career had nothing to do with money or strategy, and what a dirty outlet plate taught a young hotel manager about everything that matters. 🔗 Connect with Connie Russell: Website: samoset.com Website: opalcollection.com 📤 Transcript Available: Connie Russell on What It Takes to Lead a Property That Dates Back to 1889 and Still Feels Like It Belongs to the Community 📺 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

  5. 3d ago

    Allie Goodrich Brought Backwards Design From the Classroom to a Car Wash

    🎙️ From Seventh Grade Math Teacher to Director of Leadership Development: Allie Goodrich's Journey at Benny's Car Wash In this episode, Allie Goodrich, Director of Leadership Development at Benny's Car Wash, shares how she brought classroom teaching methods into a fourth-generation family business and built a leadership pipeline that's turning entry-level employees into general managers. Allie opens up about leading her team through her father's stroke while learning to separate her reality from theirs, and how a teacher's instinct for backwards design reshaped how Benny's trains its people. ✨ Key Insights You'll Learn: Left a teaching career after four years feeling unfulfilled Found Benny's through a job ad written for teachers like her Built a unified “Benny's way” from scattered, inconsistent site procedures Uses backwards design from education to build training curriculum Created Benny U, an employee-driven career path with core values scoring Promotes through certifications, MOD hours, and formal interviews Produces Benny Vision, a weekly culture video nearing four years of episodes Watched employees rise from entry-level roles all the way to general manager Leads leadership classes while privately navigating her father's stroke Wants to bring her training approach to a bigger stage beyond Benny's 🌟 Allie's Key Mentors: Her Former COO: Set the vision for a unified, company-wide training system Alexis (Training Counterpart): Handles technical skills so Allie can focus on leadership development Her HR Team: Sets a high hiring bar that shapes company culture from day one Her Husband: Primary support system as she navigates her father's health crisis 👉 Hear how a former teacher built one of the car wash industry's most sophisticated leadership development programs — while quietly holding her own world together. 🔗 Connect with Allie Goodrich: Website: bennyscarwash.com 📄 Transcript Available: Allie Goodrich Brought Backwards Design From the Classroom to a Car Wash 📺 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. 4d ago

    Brittany Park on Why Team Member Services Is a Purpose and Human Resources Is Just a Function

    Brittany Park, Director of Team Member Services at Brittain Resorts and Hotels, started as a barista at a Starbucks licensed store inside a Myrtle Beach resort in 2012 when she was 19, moved to assistant store manager of a frozen yogurt shop the same year, got put at the front desk to fill the off-season, and never looked back. Thirteen years later, she holds a SHRM-SCP designation, oversees HR operations and compliance across 30-plus resorts and 4,700 rooms, manages one of the most complex foreign labor programs in the Southeast, and runs a Women’s Leadership Alliance that she credits with changing how she shows up in every meeting she has ever walked into since. ✨ Key Insights You’ll Learn: Starting as a barista at 19 and never imagining the company would become a 13-year career How a seasonal frozen yogurt shop and an off-season front desk shift started everything The drunk golfer who called her a five-year-old and what she said back Growing up with small business owner parents and what watching the 2008 financial crisis at a young age did to her work ethic Why Brittain Resorts calls it team member services instead of human resources and what the difference actually means The Women’s Leadership Alliance: what it taught her about pauses, healthy debate, and not over-explaining why she was in the room H-2B visa program explained: what it is, why it exists, who it serves, and why the misconceptions are wrong Blue Rewards: how peer-to-peer recognition changed what stories actually make it back to leadership Using AI responsibly in HR and the real risk of a chatbot inventing legal precedents that do not exist What keeps her up at night as an HR leader and why hospitality is always a little behind the curve 🌟 Brittany’s Key Mentors: Monty Morrow (Regional Manager, Brittain Resorts): The first leader who saw something in Brittany and asked her to step up from barista to assistant store manager — still a mentor today The Former Director of HR at Brittain Resorts: The woman who invited Brittany to co-develop a training session on effective interviewing and gave her the first taste of what HR could be Matthew Brittain (CEO, Brittain Resorts): The leader whose answer to every hard question — what’s the right decision — set the culture Brittany has worked inside ever since Her Husband: The steady outside voice who reminds her regularly of how she got to where she is and pushes back on the imposter syndrome when it shows up 👉 Don’t miss this conversation about what it looks like to grow up inside one company for thirteen years without ever feeling stuck, why the H-2B program is misunderstood by almost everyone outside of seasonal hospitality, and what a Women’s Leadership Alliance in Myrtle Beach taught one HR director about not over-explaining why she deserved to be in the room. 🔗 Connect with Brittany Park: Website: brittainresorts.com Careers: brittainresorts.com/our-company/careers 📤 Transcript Available: Brittany Park on Why Team Member Services Is a Purpose and Human Resources Is Just a Function 📺 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

  7. 5d ago

    The Brown Hotel's John Demling on Why “What Got Me Here Won't Get Me There”

    🎙️ From Teenage Dishwasher to Running a 100-Year-Old Louisville Landmark: John Demling's Journey at the Brown Hotel In this episode, John Demling, General Manager of the historic Brown Hotel in Louisville, shares a career that started as a 14-year-old dishwasher and has spanned nearly every role a hotel has to offer. John opens up about a nine-day job loss that turned him into a stay-at-home dad, the mentors who shaped how he treats his staff, and what it takes to run one of the largest convention hotels in the country. ✨ Key Insights You'll Learn: Started as a dishwasher at 14, never really left hospitality Talked his way into a hotel job before he was old enough to work full time Won Hotel of the Year turning around an aging property with no renovation Lost a managing director role after just nine days Became a stay-at-home dad while his wife returned to nursing Took a revenue management role covering over 2,000 hotel rooms to rebuild his resume Named GM of the Brown Hotel within his sixth day on the job Believes “what got me here won't get me there” as hotels scale up Prioritizes being approachable over standing on ceremony as a leader Aims to make the Brown Louisville's most desired destination again 🌟 John's Key Mentors: His Father: Modeled a relentless work ethic and putting people before profit Richard Pennyman: Taught him to take ownership of every standard in the building Michelle Stephens: Regional leader who invested in him early and pushed his career forward Jonathan: Culture-focused manager who showed him how to organize a business intelligently 👉 Hear how a teenage dishwasher became the general manager tasked with reviving one of the South's most storied hotels. 🔗 Connect with John Demling: Website: brownhotel.com 📄 Transcript Available: The Brown Hotel's John Demling on Why “What Got Me Here Won't Get Me There” 📺 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. 6d ago

    On the Other Side of the Table Now: Doug Thomas’s New Role in Hotel Deals

    🎙️ From Hotel Sales to Conference Direct: Doug Thomas's Journey on Both Sides of the Negotiating Table In this episode, Doug Thomas, Global Account Executive at Conference Direct, shares how COVID wiped out his sixteen-year hospitality career overnight, sending him into his garage to build a fitness training business from scratch. Doug opens up about the physical toll of training clients through a Florida summer, the accidental site visit that brought him back into hospitality, and how he now uses insider hotel knowledge to catch hidden fees on his clients' behalf. ✨ Key Insights You'll Learn: Started on a hotel front desk after a short-lived college football career Helped pre-sell Rosen Shingle Creek before it broke ground in 2004 Spent sixteen years with Rosen Hotels across sales and leadership roles Lost his job when COVID shut down convention hotel sales in 2020 Built a personal training business in his garage within a week of the layoff Trained six to eight clients a day through the Florida summer heat Returned to hospitality after pitching fitness equipment to former colleagues Rejoined Rosen Shingle Creek in an associate director of sales role Joined Conference Direct in 2026 to manage a longtime client's portfolio Saved a client $21,000 by challenging improperly taxed cancellation damages 🌟 Doug's Key Mentors: Leslie Manacini: Rosen's first director of sales who modeled deeply personal client relationships Leona Baylarian: Taught him fierce client advocacy from the third-party perspective Mike Ditter: Longtime client and Conference Direct veteran who recruited him into the firm Harris Rosen: Founder whose rags-to-riches story shaped the culture Doug worked within for 16 years 👉 Hear how a hotel sales veteran lost everything to COVID, rebuilt his life training athletes in his garage, and found his way back to hospitality on the other side of the negotiating table. 🔗 Connect with Doug Thomas: Email: doug.thomas@conferencedirect.com LinkedIn: Doug Thomas, Conference Direct 📄 Transcript Available: On the Other Side of the Table Now: Doug Thomas’s New Role in Hotel Deals  📺 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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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
    557
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Anthony Codispoti
  • Show Website
    The Inspired Stories Podcast