AG45 Soul Aligned Strategy Podcast

Katherine Breuss
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  • Entrepreneurship
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Hosted by Katherine Breuss, CEO and Founder of AG45, this show is built on 30 years of hands-on experience across four countries, three businesses, and one incredible life raising four children. Katherine brings a rare, whole-person perspective to business, strategy, and leadership. This podcast is for business owners ready to stop spinning, start aligning, and build a business that delivers real value — while creating a life that actually feels like yours.

  1. Episode 1

    The Journey to Becoming a Soul Aligned Owner: Embracing Inner Wisdom with Leighann Lovely from Love Your Sales

    In this episode of the AG45 Soul Aligned Strategy Podcast, host Katherine Breuss discusses with Leighann Lovely, owner of Love Your Sales, how aligning personal values and business objectives can significantly impact success and satisfaction. Leighann recounts her journey of recognizing misalignment in her business and life, particularly after a profound comment from her daughter. She shares her strategy of focusing on 'revenue-generating tasks' and highlights the importance of clarity, personal well-being, and the courage to pivot when necessary. The conversation emphasizes listening to both internal and external advice to maintain a balanced, purpose-driven approach to entrepreneurship.    AG45 Soul Aligned Strategy Podcast – www.accelerategrowth45.com  Katherine Breuss: welcome Leighann. Lovely to the AG 45 Soul Aligned Strategy podcast. It is so great to have you on here. I'm looking forward to our conversation.  Leighann Lovely: I'm excited to, to be here too, Katherine. And, I was about to say, I'm excited to have you on my podcast. I know. I'm, I'm thrilled to be here and talk with you.  Katherine Breuss: You have a great podcast, one of which I've been on. And that is Love Your Sales, correct? Yes. Yep. So, I first, before we get into the, the great, juicy questions of Soul Line Strategy and your business why don't you tell or share with the audience a little bit about you and your business?  Leighann Lovely: I would love to, yes, I am Leighann. Lovely owner. Of Love Your Sales. That has been, well a journey, quite the journey, over the [00:01:00] last. Two and a half years, since it started. Today I will say that what we specialize in is really sales and sales strategies.  And that comes with a, you know, CRM solution that is really powerful, a powerful tool in order to, get you focused on what matters. And I like to say revenue generating tasks.. Because when it comes to sales, that's what you need to be focused on. Um, so we work with, businesses to help, create a clear path to, to that, to revenue generating tasks in the sales realm.  Katherine Breuss: Nice. I love it. Uh, and I can vouch for your services 'cause AG 45 has worked with, love your Sales. So I wanna do a big hats off, to you and your, your company.  Leighann Lovely: Thank you. That means a lot coming from you  Katherine Breuss: in terms of, soul aligned strategy. And you know, the way [00:02:00] that we see it, at AG 45 is that, you know, whether you're soul aligned, if you are receiving the results and enjoying the journey.  And so what we find is that many business owners. Are getting one or the other, or they might not be getting either or not high enough in terms of of rating. And in my view, I kind of sit and go, man, we got one life that we know of, so let's make it count. So let's figure out how we can combine both. So when you think about a soul aligned business, what does that mean to you?  Leighann Lovely: It's such a, a loaded question, yet simple at the same time. Right. Because the first time, you know, obviously you and I have, you know, a relationship beyond just this [00:03:00] podcast, and the first time that you had said that, the, the first thought that came into my heart was. Or ahead was heart. Um, you know, following what my heart tells me is important to me, not only in my business, but also in my home life.  And having those two come together and I had kind of a. Breakdown not too long ago realizing that those two things were not coming together. You know, a comment from my daughter, which was a slap in the face of, oh, mommy doesn't have friends, she has clients. Um, was quite an eye, right? I know quite an eye-opener when you go, wow.  Um, do I work too much? Do I work, you know, too hard? Am I too focused? Am I not? Present. What, what is, what does that mean? Um, so for me it's really about going back to the reason I started my [00:04:00] business. I wanted the freedom to work when and where I wanted, and yet I was working way more, way harder, and way more stressed out.  And that just doesn't, it doesn't make sense. That's, that is completely not the reason why I started my business. 'cause it, it kind of got so soul aligned. Um, taking the, my values, my passions, my love of, of what I do and being able to implement that into my business and then have that translate to my clients and actually having them love sales again.  Having them love what they see happening in their business. Through the systems and the processes that I'm putting in place for them, and then having that translate into direct revenue. Uh, it's awesome. I mean, I, right, I, I remember the first time I made, like the first [00:05:00] sale I made and I was like, oh my God.  Like, oh my gosh, like I can write my own ticket like. If I just do this the right way, I, and nobody taught me how to do sales. I was just kind of like thrown to the wolves. Like, here you go. You wanted to be a salesperson. Like, yep, I did. Um, well, I shouldn't say nobody taught me. I grew up in a sales family, but I.  Katherine Breuss: I was gonna say, you told me that you, you learned from your father, like you,  Leighann Lovely: yes, I grew up in a sales family, but when real world experience, like nobody taught me how to cold call, nobody taught me, you know, the, the actual process I learned, you know, early on how to network and how to, from my dad and from, you know, my, my mom and from just sitting around the dinner table, listening to them talk about.  You, the real estate world, and you know, and I watched them do the hustle thing, you know, so  Katherine Breuss: the hustle. [00:06:00] So what do you, okay, so you, you saw misalignment. Yes. In terms of who, you know, what your heart was telling you in terms of what you want, who you are, and then, and how you're running your business. And there was a significant impact on you.  Leighann Lovely: It's funny, even people in my network, a lot of people in my network were like, I would love to bring you on as a cli. You know, coaches and, one in particular who really focuses on women's health. It should have been like a major red flag, right? She's like, you, I'd really love to bring you on as a client.  I'm like, no, no, I'm fine. I'm fine, I'm fine. And then I'd find myself, you know, in a ball crying. It's like, you think there's some misalignment here? Um, you know, and sometimes the most obvious thing isn't obvious to you [00:07:00] until. Until it  is and you know, and we're laughing and it's not, when you're going through it, it does not feel very funny.  No, I've been there. I think most people have been there at least once in their life, if not many times.  And those who are not entrepreneurs. Are thinking about becoming entrepreneurs. Again, I'm not gonna discourage you or encourage you in any way, shape, or form. That's your own decision to make. But so many people are like, are you sure you wanna do this?  And I'm like, oh yeah, I know all the warnings. Oh yeah, I know. It's hard. Yeah. Nobody could potential or nobody could possibly have explained. The rollercoaster of emotions that you go through of one day you're like, I'm on top of the world, and the next day you're like, oh my God, I'm failing everybody. And it's [00:08:00] so, it's just, it's just that back and forth and, but you, there are significant moments that I can go back to and go, this is the beginning of when I hit this, this last low that was like.  I mean, I, I was ready to say I'm, I'm done like I am. I'm gonna, I'm shutting the doors, I'm walking away, I'm going to into corporate. I'm, I'm done. And lemme tell you, going into corporate would've been really, really difficult. Um,  Katherine Breuss: but it's, we love you corporate, but it is a different animal. I dunno that  Leighann Lovely: corporate has ever, like, I dunno that corporate likes me.  I'm, I'm one of those people who speaks my mind and says what I think when I think it, and that's not good politics in the corporate world.  Katherine Breuss: Oh yes, it is a completely different animal. You [00:09:00] know, I love this whole thing of, that you said is that, you know, when things are great, you got your ups and then you know, things are, you know, down, you got your downs and, and, and.  I hear this so much with not only business owners, I mean with just han beings. And, and here's the thing. When, when we talk about soul aligned, it's really having that strong base, that strong core, and that strong core is you, you as the business owner, and it's internally. Found. And when that internal strength and understanding is awakened or recognized, whatever's hitting you from the outside doesn't seem to have that rollercoaster effect.  Um, and this is what I call like true alignment. Mm-hmm. [00:10:00] Um, it's not to say you're not gonna have the tough times, it just. It doesn't necessarily feel as rollercoaster. Um, and going down that, oh my God.  Leighann Lovely: Well, and just being in your orbit, Katherine has, has created that questioning in me of what can I do better?  Just seeing how you go through your process of thinking about things and identifying different things and seeing things differently has made me start to really think through and, and I'm not one of those people who makes decisions. Like I don't sit on things for months at a time or weeks at a time.  Like when I make a decision, I make a decision. I stick with that decision. And then if at some point we need to pivot, we pivot. Right? [00:11:00] And that, that's just the way that my brain works. Um, and, and watching you and seeing you strategically think through things and then make those decisions and, and, and solid decisions, not, you know, off the cuff, like, oh, we're gonna do this or We're gonna do solid.  This is the path we're gonna follow, we're gonna follow it until we see results, and then pivot and then. Yo

  2. Episode 2

    The Power of Commitment: Tyler Marcus CEO and Co-Founder of Gradmor on Aligning Your Soul and Business

    The AG45 Soul Aligned Strategy Podcast, hosted by Katherine Breuss, explores the intersection of business, personal growth, and enjoyment. In this episode, Katherine interviews Tyler Marcus, CEO and co-founder of Gradmor, a company specializing in workforce intelligence using data and AI. Tyler discusses the evolution of his business and the importance of soul alignment, which he discovered through personal growth and internal reflection. They delve into the impacts of AI on workforce productivity, the importance of aligning personal and business goals, overcoming imposter syndrome, and being adaptable in business strategy. Tyler emphasizes the significance of meditation and yoga in achieving personal alignment and how it positively influences business success. The conversation concludes with insights on evolving strategies and the importance of aligning with external opportunities while staying true to one's personal values.    [00:00:52] Katherine Breuss: Tyler, welcome to the Soul Lined Strategy Podcast. It's great to have you, and I would love for you to introduce to everyone else who you are, and tell us about your business.  [00:01:06] Tyler Marcus: Sure. Yeah. So my name's Tyler Marcus, CEO of Gradmor founder, co-founder. Uh, we started the company in 2017. Uh, I've been running the business for eight years. Uh, our main business is workforce intelligence, it's helping businesses understand how to improve workforce productivity, performance efficiencies, using data, data science, analytics, and now ai, depending on what the situation is.  Uh, our business has evolved, , over eight years and not only has my business evolved, but I feel I've evolved with it, , as it's grown. Uh, that's, that's, that's the essence of what, what my company does.  [00:01:43] Katherine Breuss: Very cool. And especially, I bet, your business with everything that's going on in terms of AI and how work is changing, I could see the real, need for what you do.  [00:01:55] Tyler Marcus: Definitely. Actually, when we started it, I felt we were a bit early in the cycle of data and analytics within people and talent. Uh, it was mostly enterprises were focused on it. But now, since AI has become more mainstream, smaller businesses are starting to realize the value of that data.  As when you're using AI chat GBT or something, you're how can I apply this to make us more productive? So people start to think more about it as opposed to being why do I need data around employees and people? And, when it's really one of the key parts of a business success.  Uh, it's, it's changed how people think about this topic. Which has made our business, easier to, to, work with companies and, and go beyond what we doing. So.  [00:02:39] Katherine Breuss: I can echo that. I, I currently work with a business in Illinois and data analytics has become one of their number one strategic priorities over the next few years.  Um, looking at it from all realms. So, if businesses aren't looking at it, they should.  [00:02:55] Tyler Marcus: Yeah, no, definitely. it, and data analytics has been, in marketing we use it. I'm, I'm, my background's in marketing, digital marketing, data science. I worked in digital marketing for seven years.  Facebook ads, Google, AdWords, things that. Data was always that's how you drive your ads, right? If you're optimizing ad campaigns, you would use data to make the cost per click drop or to increase conversions, everything. Same thing in sales. People use sales data to drive business, but when it comes to people and data, a lot of times they don't really understand how to leverage it.  What can be used? Um, I, I obviously, if your company's 10 people, it's very hard to use people data because you don't have enough sample. Once you get up to a couple hundred or more, depending on your business use case and what you're doing there is, there is potential applications to not drive better business, but to make your revenue increase cut costs.  Like people don't realize the power of people data. In business success and it's, it's even now today, sometimes it gets overlooked, but it's starting to become a little more, , I don't mainstream if you want to call it, or something along those lines.  [00:04:01] Katherine Breuss: Cool. That's a really, really cool, I'm, I know I'm learning more about, data and how to utilize it from working with businesses who are, or wanting to.  So, , very cool. And I can appreciate getting into a business maybe sooner than the market isn't necessarily ready for it, because when I was in Asia, that happened to me as but I'll save that story for, for another time. So, as a G 45, we. Are all about soul aligned strategy and for, the power when a business owner really understands who they are, what they want, and integrating that, , and aligning it to their business.  So I would love to hear from you, , how soul aligned you are and the impact that has made on your business.  [00:04:53] Tyler Marcus: Great question. I, the concept of soul alignment for me, has come in the past few years, I. I started the company eight years ago. We started the company and obviously when you're your entrepreneurship journey, I feel a lot of it is your own personal journey is has to be aligned with it because you're, it's forces you to grow in a certain way.  And if if you don't, you either are very stressed or disconnected or you quit because there's no, you don't have anything tangible holding onto what you're trying to do. And I, I felt in the first. Like two years, three years. It was a struggle for me. And post COVID, it was a struggle because COVID we had a business and then COVID ruined it in a sense of what we were doing because of the changes that happened and it forced a readjustment.  So we almost had two businesses in the same eight year frame where you had this startup version and then you figure it out and then we have to restart it back up again. But what I realized is when we were doing it the first time, I felt we were misaligned with what we wanted to do personally.  So we were let's do this stuff because it makes us money and this is what we wanna do. But then you're ending up doing things that you don't want to do. The problem with that is you end up draining energy, I find over time you're doing things you don't enjoy. It's working at a job and then being I hate what I'm doing, but now you're doing this all the time.  It's very hard to really wake up in the morning and wanna push yourself, or do it the way. Mm-hmm. So what we learned is how do we do things that add energy to what we're trying to do and what's the impact we're trying to make? Yeah. So if for me, I get the energy from business development, right?  So I'm, my whole thing is networking and events. I get energy from that. I could do that 10 hours a week. Most people are I, they're burned out. I'm I don't, it adds energy for me, but that's me. Like my personality is I it. So if I'm doing my ener, my things that are more that and spending less time on things that I don't find add energy in my business partner the same way you, I we outsource it or we find another solution because we used to try to do all this stuff and then we're doing things you don't and then you're why am I even doing this?  Meanwhile, if you put all your energy into things, you're good at. You compound that. It adds up.  Yeah. Right.  [00:07:10] Tyler Marcus: So when about soul alignment, a lot of it's who you are as a person, authentic to yourself and how that comes out for what you're doing. a lot of times when we start companies and we do things, we get disconnected from it.  'cause we feel then you have to do this because the media says you have to do that. Right? Or hustle. You have to be, you're not pro if you're not spending all your time on social media. Well, that's not for me, but hey, my power is in person we can outsource social media. Or maybe that's not a strategy we need.  So that's how about it and I think. Then you enjoy the journey more and you start to be more present and it comes off more with people 'cause they're wait, this person's pretty tapped in now there, there's a lot of reasons why and it often gets overlooked more than anything.  Yeah.  [00:07:50] Katherine Breuss: I love, I really love that you brought the energy drain into it because how we see soul alignment. Ultimately, you are getting results. And you're enjoying the journey and results mean different things to different people. You know, in terms of what that is and what I see, a lot of businesses, they're either getting one or the other or they're getting neither.  And some I'm going, what are you doing? Like, get a job 'cause you're gonna end up making more money, spending your time better and, enjoying the journey overall. But I love the fact that you said that you're the first go round you felt was more of a, of a energy drain.  Yeah. And that's probably, a really good clue to someone that maybe they are spending their time on things that aren't necessarily feeding them or nourishing them and draining them. And that could be a first clue that maybe you're not aligned.  [00:08:54] Tyler Marcus: Right. Yeah. I, that is, that is because it's you're doing something that you feel you have to do and that it's over, it's fine for a few months, but over the years it can start to wear.  It does. It's over time you're why am I, I. Spending five hours a day doing things I don't enjoy. Yeah. For the thing I started myself.  [00:09:15] Katherine Breuss: Well, here's a question. So for those who are sitting in the first, first few years, and they might not have the resources, they're, they're, you are having to wear all hats, when you are, in the first few years of a business, what would be your advice in terms of the whole energy drain versus energy?  Inspire or, that's  [00:09:41] Tyler Marcus: a great question. I, alI think here

  3. Episode 3

    The Power of Environment in Business Success: Featuring Michele Tonkovitz, CEO/Founder of Green Onion Creative

    In this episode of the Ag 45 Soul Aligned Strategy Podcast, host Katherine Breuss speaks with Michele Tonkovitz, owner of Green Onion Creative. Michele shares her journey from being inspired by her media-buyer aunt to owning a strategic and creative marketing firm. She emphasizes the crucial role of a positive environment in both personal and professional life, recounting her experiences with a less-than-ideal advertising agency and the importance of surrounding oneself with uplifting relationships. Michele discusses achieving business alignment, the impact of intrinsic motivation, and the significance of building a supportive team. She also offers advice for business owners about the value of networking, hiring the right people, and focusing on one's ‘why’ to make the entrepreneurial journey more fulfilling and successful.  Find Michele - https://www.greenonioncreative.com/    [00:00:52] Katherine Breuss: welcome Michele Tonkovitz to the Strategy Line podcast with AG 45. Uh, you are from Green Onion Creative, and I would love for you, Michele, if you could share with audience a little bit about you, but also your amazing business. Well, thank you much Katherine, for having me on the podcast.  [00:01:14] Michele Tonkovitz: This is very exciting. Um, I am currently the owner of Green Onion Creative. I started my strategic and creative marketing firm rooted here in Milwaukee back in September of 2013. But my passion for marketing and advertising started when I was eight years old because my aunt was a media buyer here in the Milwaukee area, and we got to go to the Wisconsin Dells theme parks.  Um, the lucky Admirals games, she always got tickets to events. She got to meet Mr. T and Jay Leno back in the eighties. And as a child of the eighties, I was  this is the coolest thing ever. You get to do this for your job. I want that to be my job when I grow up. Yeah. And I took my passion for creative writing as a child and had that man out my career path as I was going through high school, going through college.  Going through the different jobs until one day I sat at my table after leaving an advertising agency and going, I don't know if I wanna do this anymore, because I didn't enjoy that last advertising agency environment that I was in. Hmm. I thought about taking a career shift until my phone started ringing and people were asking, Hey, can you write a flyer?  Hey, we have somebody going out on maternity leave. Can you fill in, do our social media? We need public relations, media relations, and that's how the green onion started growing. It's from people in my network who I worked with, either as clients or colleagues along the way, and it's through them and their belief in me that the onions here today.  [00:02:50] Katherine Breuss: The onion. I love it. And  and funny, Mr. T, I have not heard that name in a very long time, but I remember that the A team. Yes. Oh my God. For those of you who are too young to know that you go online and look up the A team. Well, who doesn't know who that is. Yeah, I know. Um, gee, I  I'm glad you brought up something.  Because this is, how I see it's a key component to being aligned. You mentioned your environment and the, the environment of the last place you worked in, the last agency you worked in didn't align with you. So can you share a little bit more in terms of the impact of our environment and how that can create or destroy what we want?  [00:03:44] Michele Tonkovitz: Absolutely. the environment that you're around, whether it's personally or professionally, impacts every bit of your being. Because if you are in a place that makes you feel icky, that you can't focus, that you feel restricted, that that people are talking outta both sides of their mouths, you are not going to feel good within yourself.  You're not gonna feel good within the work that you're doing. I am such a relationship builder, right? And if I don't have a good relationship with my coworkers, the space that I'm in, the people that we're doing the work for, I'm not proud of the product that I'm pushing out. the same thing holds true in our personal lives.  Sometimes it can feel more of a. Oh, you're being tied to certain environments because of tradition or family or your ability to financially get out of the situation. But you also need to step back and look at yourself, and this is a journey that I'm also going on from a personal level of there are brighter things, better things, things I deserve, that I want, that I need and I can get them.  And  Basically with your personal life and your professional life coming together and making sure that you're having positive environments in both. I, I know for myself that anything is possible in my future.  [00:05:16] Katherine Breuss: Yeah, and, and you're a hundred percent on when you talk about that alignment between personal and professional.  And I to use this,  metaphor of. When there's, I, I say toxicity, whether,  whatever level that is, whether that's a person, whether that's a group of people,  whether that's even,  where we are hanging out. Is an anchor, and it's you're swimming through the ocean of life, whether it's your life, your business, whatever, and you've got this anchor that is making it hard to move forward.  And  even though you are wanting to move in that direction of more soul alignment and getting what you want, if you have that anchor tied to you, it's, it's impossible to,  get there. And it's hard to make the decision to try to untie or cut off the anchor. Yeah, it is hard. It is not easy.  'cause you, a little bit about mine as  that,  there was an anchor that,  I had to let go of. Um, in terms of. So environment is key. So having,   good relationships and a, a positive or, and I don't using the word positive 'cause then some people think we all mean  oh, we gotta show up all  happy and whatnot.  But an environment where people are lifting you up versus pulling you down. You, you would say that that's key in terms of that first step of being aligned. Absolutely from, again, both the professional and the personal standpoints with my clients. Anytime I get a bit of positive feedback that they had a great experience with one of the members of our team, I may ensure that I'm passing that along because those little lifts along the way can change the trajectory and brighten somebody's day and give that, that environment of I'm feeling supported, I'm feeling empowered.  [00:07:31] Michele Tonkovitz: I'm doing the things. I'm in the place with the people. Mm-hmm. I know by, from a personal perspective, I'm an aunt of five nieces and nephews, and I know it annoys the crap out of them, but I'm always  I love you. I'm proud of you. You're good. And they're  I know. And I'm  but I need you to know that I feel it in my heart and soul.  And they do. So even those little things of telling your, your neighbor  Hey, thanks much. Like your flowers are beautiful. Thank you for sprucing up my yard. By having that beauty in your backyard, those little things can mean very, very much. Absolutely. It's,  you're celebrating their wind and you're happy for their wins.  [00:08:13] Katherine Breuss: Not feeling  I don't know, overshadowed or, or jealous of the,  wins. You  you want the people around you to do  Mm-hmm. Which is huge. Which is huge. And in terms of, then,  what we talk about here at Ag 45 of Soul Lineman is this,  marriage or two sides of the coin.  It's, it's getting the results you want. And it's enjoying the journey and it's having both, and of course it's, nothing's gonna be perfect. It's not gonna be a perfect balance. Um, what for you do you find is easier,  in terms of if, if one or the other, more of that enjoyment piece or the results piece, or how do you even see that?  [00:09:07] Michele Tonkovitz: The results are what you have to work for. And sometimes that's going through the muck, right? Mm-hmm. Look up the sleeves. It's not always great trying to get those results because you have to put in the work. But my grandpa used to say, if you plan the work and work the plan,  you're gonna see the results.  And I have a lot of belief in mindset and approach and strategy. By working to get those results with my team, with myself, with my spirituality, with others colleagues in the area, seeing those results brings me the enjoyment, right? Mm-hmm. And even the littlest wins, you were saying, can mean much.  And then when you have a big one, you're  heck  we are going to celebrate. We're going to eat tonight. Right? Um, but  even the little wins. And the hard work that you have to put in in your personal life too, whether it's you're saving up to buy a new car, or maybe you do wanna take that vacation, even if it's  Hey, I've done a couple extra walks the last two months, and now my summer clothes are fitting a little bit better than they did last year.  Those are things that I find enjoyment in too. I try to look at all the things and try to be as positive as possible.  [00:10:30] Katherine Breuss: And what do as in terms of for, for someone, a business owner? 'cause that's who we're speaking with a business owner to be truly aligned. How do the impact of a business owner knowing their own personal power and harnessing that?  What do the impact of that?  [00:10:55] Michele Tonkovitz: there's a lot of impact in that in the fact that business owners myself, our professional life trickles into our personal life. So very, very much, and I'm gonna give an example of that recently. Um, I'm the president of the Milwaukee chapter of the American Marketing Association, and we had one of our biggest annual events.  It's a networking, social, happy hour. I invited my cousin and her boyfriend to come. They are not in marketing, but they need to see what I'm doing they can understand what makes me me, and what brings me the success. What gives me the a

  4. Episode 4

    From Girl Scouts to Landscape Entrepreneur: Loriena Harrington's, Owner of Beautiful Blooms Landscape's Story

    Summary - In this episode of the Ag 45 Soul Aligned Strategy Podcast, hosted by Katherine Breuss, Loriena Harrington shares her entrepreneurial journey, starting from her early experiences with the Girl Scouts to founding Beautiful Blooms Landscape & Design. Loriena emphasizes the importance of soul alignment, family values, and aligning with other successful individuals who share similar values. She discusses the significance of intuition and personal experiences in guiding business decisions, highlighting how aligning one's business with personal values can lead to more fulfilling and successful outcomes.    Find Loriena - https://beautifulbloomslandscape.com/      #BusinessAlignment #podcast #personalpurpose #soulalignment #Personalwealth #Enjoyment #entrepreneurjourney #entrepreneur #entrepreneurlife #entrepreneurstruggles #authenticityispower #Authenticity #authenticityjourney #ExitStrategy    Song: The Way To You - Composer: Sapajou  Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl7q5R_ITPYFttJn7PyHzmw  License: Free To Use YouTube license youtube-free  Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://breakingcopyright.com  [00:00:52] Katherine Breuss: welcome Loriena Harrington, , on the Soul Aligned Podcast. Really thank you very much for taking the time to,  meet with me and then share your story to everyone who's listening. , And to that. I would love if you could,  introduce yourself and share what you wanna share about you and your business to everyone that's listening. [00:01:22] Loriena Harrington: Sure. Well, first of all, thank you for having me. Um, the. The story that I can tell about being an entrepreneur is that it didn't happen two or three years ago. It happened in my childhood and I give a lot of credit to the Girl Scouts of America,  for how I. Gained my first entrepreneurial experience, and that is through their Girl Scout cookie sale. You know, I was the, the little brownie out there going door to door as soon as I got off the bus because the cookie order sheets were handed to us at school and I wanted to be the first around my neighborhood to get that market share. I had no idea it was called market share at that time, but that's what I was doing. And the confidence grows as you knock on doors and talk to strangers and. Many years later,  in my twenties when I was starting Beautiful Blooms Landscape, which is my company,  I employed that same,  marketing,  Genius of the Girl Scouts. So I went door to door knocking on, on people's doors in a brand new neighborhood that didn't have a blade of grass and sold landscape design services. I was qualified, I had my degree in horticulture and I had experience as a designer,  that I had picked up through school, and then I needed customers  I printed flyers and I went door to door, and that's how it all got started. But between selling the first boxes of Girl Scout cookies and knocking on that first door as a business owner,  officially a business owner. Um, there was a lot of experience that I got,  starting at age 12, working at a golf course local to me,  on their ground staff, and I fell in love with meticulously maintained landscapes. Um, went to school to study turf and horticulture and landscape design at the University of Minnesota, and that gave me the educational background for. The trade that I was entering, but it didn't necessarily prepare me to be a business owner. Um, that's where I made up the rules as I went along. Um, I did not ever work for a landscape business, but I had worked at golf courses,  but I had never worked for a landscape business before, but yet I started one on. Sorry, go ahead. [00:03:51] Katherine Breuss: That's cool. No, that's  normally you hear people, they've worked with someone for a few years first and they learn, but you  you jumped [00:04:01] Loriena Harrington: in. I did. Um, going,  another childhood memory that I have of my entrepreneurial spirit was, it was probably 12 or 13 years old, and I remember. This vivid memory of me kneeling at my bed, scribbling in a notebook, if I mowed the neighbor's lawns. 'cause I did have a small mowing route in my neighborhood. If I, and I was maxed out, I had five lawns that I would mow. But if I wanted to mow more, I would have to maybe have a friend help me. If I got paid $15 to mow the lawn, maybe I could give $10 to a friend. And again, I didn't know the words, but Right. Like you're making profit, you're, and I have the notebook still, but I don't have those pages. I wish I had the pages of where I was scribbling out that math before the Excel spreadsheets were even in existence, Um, but that's a real early entrepreneurial memory that I have. Wait, how old were you? Like 12, 13, 14, somewhere in there. Wow. So quite young. And it's a unique thing in our industry. And I keep saying our industry, it's the landscapers, the green industry as a whole. Anything to do with vegetation that grows outside the landscape industry has had some hand in it. And,  the. Uh, the industry is filled with entrepreneurs that started their businesses at the age of 12 or 13 or 14 as the neighborhood kid that went around and mowed people's lawns. Um, when you have the opportunity to hire the neighborhood kid, know that you might be hiring the entrepreneurial for life, and that's, that's pretty cool. [00:05:55] Katherine Breuss: That is cool. And you're  I've, I've spoken with a few people in your industry in some shape or form,  business owners, and they seem every single one far, they knew they wanted to be in this space at a young age. There was, there was a passion or a love,  in some shape or form to either outside or,  to,  you said the meticulous aspect of,  and golf courses for sure. Mm-hmm. Um,  I would imagine you would get a   high level training in that. Um,  I'm being meticulous. I don't know much about,  that I'm a horrible,  in terms of gardening or landscaping or anything. So,   I could learn a lot. Um, now one of the things that we have,  talked about is soul alignment in terms of the importance. Of it. And  I, myself and at Ag 45, we have an idea of what soul alignment is, and I call it,  harnessing your personal power and bringing it to, to what you do. How would you describe soul alignment for you and the impact that has had on your life and, and your business? [00:07:19] Loriena Harrington: That's a great question and it's one that has a lot of different answers to it. For me, it's not a single answer. I can tell you a single answer for what it means to me for today, but my company has evolved, it start, I started it 25 years ago. As an experiment. I didn't know if it was gonna work. I still was employed at a golf course and I started it as an, as a little side hustle experiment. Let's see if this works. And it was very successful in that first season. Uh, I,  I guess the, the first life decision that I made with regard to the business was. Geographically, where am I at? And I was up in Minneapolis, but I was originally from Milwaukee, born and raised here. All my family was here and it was important to me to be near family and therefore I uprooted myself. All puns in the landscape industry are fully intended. Um, I uprooted myself and transplanted myself back to Milwaukee that I could be in the support of family and some friends that were still here locally. Because once you start a business, you generally don't move it. And I, and I had the foresight to know that. I was  I don't wanna get 10 years into this and have to restart. If I'm only one year into it and I restart, that's not a big, big loss or a big risk to take. So aligning my values early on with family, that's always been number one to me, was very important. I. Um, as the business grew, and again, I started as a sole proprietor and I didn't think that I was going to grow it into a business where I would have,  employees. And then after a certain point, the business turns into a company less reliant on a sole owner per se. And now I've got. Um, two minority shareholders in my company. You know, this is 20 years later. After the start,  we, I took on two additional owners, and now for the past five years, my purpose, my personal purpose and motivation has grown and changed to be beyond me. So what that means is I am motivated to provide opportunity for others. I see. Our ranks are about 32 employees now. That's a far different story than a sole proprietor. And they have families, they have children, they have people relying on them. So the touch,  or  the effect of beautiful blooms is a ripple. And those waves continue to radiate out and affect a lot of people's lives. So that's. Again, going back to that very first value of family and making sure that we're a good place to work, that we're culturally aligned with that, that is important to me. [00:10:32] Katherine Breuss: And what, what would are the. Results if you weren't aligned. Like what could happen for a business owner if they're not aligned? If they're not aligned with themselves and then their business isn't aligned with them. [00:10:48] Loriena Harrington: Catastrophe, struggle, stress. Not to say that it's stress free if you are aligned, but it's a different stress. Um, being true to yourself and your values. It adds much clarification and it makes things much more, I don't wanna say easy 'cause good Lord. Owning a business is not easy, but, Establishing your values, identifying your values,  through,  some soul searching, some quiet reflection time. Looking back on your past experiences as an employee. Deciding what you loved about certain places and what you despised or reflecting as a consumer. What, what do you love about experiences at other places of business that you may wanna replicate in your own way? Um, that helps to establish or to identify what the values of a company are. So once those, then you can tie everything. And everything back to th

  5. Episode 5

    What Does Soul Aligned Mean? Katherine Breuss CEO and Founder, AG45

    The AG45 Soul Aligned Strategy Podcast, hosted by Katherine Breuss, blends business strategy and personal alignment. Katherine, who has 30 years of international business experience, emphasizes the importance of aligning personal passion and business goals. Katherine shares her journey and introduces her business, AG45, which aims to help entrepreneurs achieve both business success and personal fulfillment by clarifying their true desires and aligning them with their business strategies. Special guest Leighann Lovely, interviews Katherine, on the meaning behind soul aligned and explores her motivations and the unique approach of the AG45 strategy.     Find Katherine – www.accelerategrowth45.com   [00:00:52] Katherine Breuss: Welcome to the AG45 Soul Aligned Strategy Podcast. I have Leighann Lovely with me, and I'm turning the reins over to her as she interviews me today. [00:01:12] Leighann Lovely: I'm thrilled to be here! I’m Leighann Lovely, CEO and founder of Love Your Sales and host of the Love Your Sales podcast. I’m excited to learn about your business and this podcast journey with AG45. So, Katherine, who are you? [00:01:52] Katherine Breuss: Great question. I recently moved back to the U.S. after 22 years abroad. I’d call myself an explorer. I left the U.S. in early adulthood to experience the world—London, Singapore (where I started my first business), then Australia. I have four kids, ages 11 to 17. I love the outdoors—dirt biking, sailing, kayaking, mountain biking, skiing. Since moving to Milwaukee, I’ve taken up golf. I've run several businesses—some successful, others not so much—so I’ve seen both sides. [00:03:45] Leighann Lovely: Let’s talk about AG45—Accelerate Growth 45. What is your business about, and who do you serve? [00:04:05] Katherine Breuss: When I returned to the U.S. two and a half years ago, I asked myself: who do I want to serve? I had worked with Fortune 500 companies and small businesses in the past. This time, I wanted to work with entrepreneurs—people like me who bet on themselves. I saw a gap. Many small to mid-sized businesses were working hard without the results they wanted. So, AG45 was born to bridge that gap—helping businesses grow and also exit successfully. But there’s another layer: alignment. Many business owners are misaligned—with who they are, what they want, and how they run their business. AG45 helps align the business strategy with the owner's personal clarity and purpose. We are multidimensional, and the business should reflect that. [00:06:31] Leighann Lovely: Absolutely. Even business owners who think they’re aligned often aren’t. I had a coach keep offering to work with me, and I kept saying I was fine—until I wasn’t. I was working so much my daughter noticed. My family noticed. And most small business owners don’t start a business just to be consumed by it, but it happens. Then we forget why we started. [00:08:02] Katherine Breuss: Exactly. Many people attach their happiness to results—“I had a good day because we closed deals.” That mindset creates volatility. True alignment means understanding your personal power and values first. Then align that to your business. That’s when results improve and the journey becomes enjoyable—not just about outcomes. [00:09:34] Leighann Lovely: Right. And we wear so many hats. It's easy to confuse competency with passion. You might be good at something, but do you love doing it? Do you wake up excited for it? [00:11:15] Katherine Breuss: And you won’t find that clarity until you know who you are. Then, it’s about removing the anchors holding you back—habits, relationships, decisions. Some of it is hard. But once you shift, it’s powerful. That’s why AG45 is built on the "Five A’s of Success"—rooted in personal power. We combine true coaching with business consulting. Both matter. [00:13:05] Leighann Lovely: So, let’s talk about your podcast—the AG45 Soul Aligned Strategy Podcast. What does “soul aligned” mean to you?   [00:13:35] Katherine Breuss: (Highlighted area - unchanged as requested)   [00:15:51] Leighann Lovely: I love your car analogy. If one tire is off, we wouldn’t drive—but we push forward when our mindset or health is off. We make decisions based on unclear thoughts or the wrong advice. Then we wonder why things don’t work out. [00:17:34] Katherine Breuss: Right. You end up throwing spaghetti at the wall, hoping it sticks. Even if your business is successful, are you enjoying the journey? I’ve met incredibly wealthy people who were unhappy or unfulfilled. Soul alignment isn’t just about performance—it’s about how you show up and who you are. When your life and business are aligned, the impact ripples outward. [00:19:24] Leighann Lovely: Maybe in that parallel universe you mentioned, you're mountain biking and paddle boarding every day! [00:19:26] Katherine Breuss: Exactly! But in this life, I want to make it count. And that’s what AG45 is about—helping others do the same through soul aligned strategy. [00:19:51] Leighann Lovely: That's amazing. One last question—why did you start this business? [00:20:02] Katherine Breuss: The soul aligned part is deeply personal. I worked at Goldman Sachs, ran businesses in Asia—but I wasn’t always aligned. I had success, but I wasn’t enjoying the day-to-day. I made poor decisions—wrong partnerships, wrong environments—because I didn’t fully know myself. Once I let go of toxic anchors, everything changed. That clarity fired me up. It’s not just about business success—it’s about showing up powerfully in life too. Look at who you're surrounding yourself with. If they lift you, great. If they weigh you down, that’s your clue. When I cut ties with the wrong people, I could finally move forward. Soul alignment gave me the clarity and strength to build something bigger than just a business. [00:23:07] Leighann Lovely: Thank you so much for sharing. I’d love to hear more of your story another time. If you haven’t tuned in to previous episodes, make sure to check them out, like and follow, or sign up for the newsletter on Katherine’s website—accelerategrowth45.com. Any final thoughts, Katherine? [00:23:51] Katherine Breuss: Just this—the podcast’s purpose is to awaken people to their greatness. By sharing stories of alignment and misalignment, I hope listeners see themselves and start to shift. You’re not alone. It can feel lonely, but support is out there. I want this podcast to be that support. [00:24:50] Leighann Lovely: And it's not just the podcast. Working with you has already made a huge difference in how I show up. Thank you, Katherine. [00:25:15] Katherine Breuss: Thank you.   Song: The Way To You - Composer: Sapajou  Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl7q5R_ITPYFttJn7PyHzmw  License: Free To Use YouTube license youtube-free  Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://breakingcopyright.com

  6. Episode 6

    Soul Aligned Success with Leticia Guzman Owner of Leticia Guzman and Associates: Embracing Authenticity in Business

    In this episode of the AG45 Soul Aligned Strategy Podcast, host Katherine Breuss speaks with Leticia Guzman, owner of Leticia Guzman and Associates with American Family Insurance. Leticia shares her journey towards achieving 'soul alignment' in her business over the past five years. Initially unaware of the importance of aligning her personal values with her business, Leticia gradually invested in personal and professional development, hiring a coach to help her gain clarity and confidence. This alignment led to significant changes in how she approached her business, attracted clients, and built a cohesive team. Leticia emphasizes the importance of investing in oneself and the profound impact it can have on one's business and life. The conversation also touches on the integration of core values into business practice and the positive outcomes of being truly aligned in one’s personal and professional life.  Find Leticia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/leticia-guzman-71305812/     [00:00:00] AG45 Intro: Welcome to the Ag 45 Soul Aligned Strategy Podcast, where business meets purpose growth feels good, and results meet enjoyment. Hosted by Katherine Breuss, CEO, and founder of Ag G 45, this show is built on 30 years of hands-on experience across four countries, three businesses, and one incredible life.  Raising four children. Katherine brings a rare whole person perspective to business strategy and leadership. I. This podcast is for business owners ready to stop spinning, start aligning, and build a business that delivers real value while creating a life that feels yours. At the end of the day, you are the engine behind it all, and when you're clear and aligned, everything moves with purpose.  It starts with you. Let's dive in.  [00:00:52] Katherine Breuss: Leticia, welcome to the AG 45 Soul Aligned Strategy Podcast. It's amazing to have you here. I appreciate your time. Um, and I'd love if you could share with the audience who you are and, and your business.  [00:01:10] Leticia Guzman: Absolutely. Well, thank you first off for having me. I appreciate being here. Um, I'm Leticia. I have,  I am the owner of Leticia Guzman and Associates with American Family Insurance, downtown Waukesha. Um, been down here for 18 years. Um, and I, I love my town. I love. I love our agency, our, our, our team, our community.  It's, they haven't been down to Waukesha. It's a great place. It is. Yeah. I'll,   [00:01:36] Katherine Breuss: I will say it's pretty cool. Like I wasn't very familiar with,  Waukesha until the last couple years and it is such a lovely area.   [00:01:46] Leticia Guzman: It is. Yeah. Coffee shops and little shops and we love it. I'm still here 18 years later.  I'm still here.   [00:01:54] Katherine Breuss: That's amazing. So 18 years,  you must be doing something  And   I, I would say more than something,  Yeah. And since this podcast is, is focused on the power of being soul aligned mm-hmm. As a business owner. And the way that we see soul alignment is understanding who you are as a human, what you want, and aligning it to your business.  Mm-hmm. Um, my question for you, Leticia, is, is how important is. Alignment or sole alignment,  for you and the success of your business?   [00:02:36] Leticia Guzman: So,  I, I feel this, if you asked me this five years ago, I would not have been able to articulate or be able to explain this  Um, but over the last five, I would say the last five years, over the last five years.  I became aware of the, of being aligned and within the business. And that for me was one of the biggest breaking points. Um, I feel  I feel it was always aligned to some degree. But there are times where you have to, sometimes I realized that I wasn't that confident, right?  To, to know that, hey, listen, this is who I am in my personal life and this is translating into my business world. It's hard to, 'cause some people will say,   you have to be one way in your personal life and you have to be another way in your business. And I've heard that for long. And for many years I was   who am I here?  But who am I here? And eventually. I realized it's not, it, it's, there is no separation. It's all everything, right? So your whole world, if you're, and, and if you don't bring that alignment of who you truly are into the business, I feel you, I feel you wouldn't always say yes from an alignment and maybe out of obligation, right?  Mm-hmm. And in the last five years, I've done some intense,  Maybe not soul searching is a word, but maybe some, some alignment. Um, and confirmation in alignment. And now I, now I see it, now I'm   I, I see it. I am who I am outside of my office. I am who I am in my office, and I am who I am with all the people, whether you're a member of the community, whether you're a member of my agency and even on my team.  And it's. I feel I can say yes from alignment now and not out of obligation. And that is important because every offer, every partnership, every piece of content that I create is, is a full body. Yes. Right. Um, I'm not launching from the sake of launching. I don't, I I don't move out of pressure or fear.  I'm  I, I, now, I, it's all about how I Right. And I wait until it feels  And that's been the biggest game changer. And I said, five years ago, I've been   I do. And now I'm  no, I know I do.   Um, it's   [00:05:15] Katherine Breuss: I, I'm curious in terms of the impact. So there was a time in your life where you feel you weren't a soul aligned.   there were some part of alignment, and then the last five years you've become more soul aligned in your business. What is, what are the. Biggest impact that you have seen from being more soul lined than previously?   Okay. That's a good question. So, I, I lead, I, I lead with a mission. I lead with who I am.  Um, I, I'm confident in my, in what I deliver. I am very confident in what we're expecting. Um, we. I'm very aligned with my core values and my agency are very in alignment with who I am. Okay. And now that gives me the opportunity to lead with my best foot forward and my most authentic self. Okay. And now I'm attracting   mm-hmm.  [00:06:22] Leticia Guzman: The, I'm attracting people that are in alignment with, those are my people. Yeah. In business and in my personal world. Over the course of the last five years, I'll, I'll tell you,  I can reflect on the, the days where I was attracting wrong opportunities because I wasn't very clear. I wasn't crystal clear.  I wasn't, those my, I wasn't clear on, I. I wasn't aligned, period. It's the end of the,  that's it. Um, and also the other thing is that when you're not aligned and you're misaligned, it creates resistance. Yeah. Which is gonna create burnout,  Um, you, you do lose clarity and confidence because you're not even clear on what you're, on, what you're trying to convey.  And I feel when you can get to that point, you transition everything. Now I attract people on my team. Hmm. That are more in alignment with what I believe, and those are the people that, that are working in your world with you every day. I also attract people that are me in my personal world.  And when you are attracting that and you are surrounding yourself around people that are in alignment with who you are, it's a completely different lifestyle, right? You do show up as your authentic self. And that that has, that has been incredible. And I can see how our opportunities that we're attracting are much different.  [00:07:50] Katherine Breuss: So you're seeing the results from it?  [00:07:52] Leticia Guzman: 100%. Yeah. I'm seeing my, I'm seeing different results from my team members too, because I'm showing up in a very specific way. Right. And they're almost matching that those people that aren't matching that are also the people that were. Hard in ways with, and that's  hard.  It's hard to to know. And I knew that that would happen. Um, and it was difficult, but until it was for me, I had to kinda sit back and say,  let that go and let the opportunities come into play. Um, it was about being able to see the bigger picture.   [00:08:31] Katherine Breuss: Yeah. I love that you said that it's not easy.  It's, God, it's not easy to, to let go of the weight. So  and I, I use the,  metaphor of,   being in an ocean and  when where you wanna go and who you are,  that, those are first steps. Um, it, it becomes  oh, I can do this. I can swim to there, I can do that.  However, if you still have. Dead weight. You have anchors onto you, the wrong people or the wrong opportunities, or the wrong environment or whatever that inhibits you. It makes that swim a hell of a lot harder and it can even  pull you back or, or bring you down. Right. And even recognizing that you had some,  some,  people or, or circumstances or opportunities that you had to say no to or let go of.  It's not an easy thing in particularly at first, but when you do. It's that swim, it's that resistance starts to,  go away. But it's not easy,   [00:09:41] Leticia Guzman:  one of the,  the most rewarding five years to, to be able to experience that transition and get aligned. One of the most difficult, but one of the most rewarding.  Because I, I, I feel completely different and I believe that my audience and my team and my, my, everybody around me can feel it. Right. Um,  it's, it's difficult. Not easy, but here we are.   [00:10:12] Katherine Breuss: So what did you do in particular? Was there anything in particular that you did that helped you get more soul lined starting five years ago?  [00:10:23] Leticia Guzman: So one of the biggest things,  I hired a coach. Mm-hmm. Okay. And I felt, at that point in my life, I felt  I thought I knew who I was and I, I, I did. I was  oh, I know who I am. I know who I am. I can tell people who I am. But I took a step back and said, do I truly know and am  and on

  7. Episode 7

    Aligning Your Business and Health: A Conversation with Dr. Nick Lundbohm, Owner of ChiroWay

    In this episode of the AG45 Soul Aligned Strategy Podcast, host Katherine Breuss interviews Dr. Nick Lundbohm, a chiropractor with ChiroWay Chiropractic in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. They discuss the importance of aligning one's soul with their business and the significance of chiropractic care in maintaining overall health. Nick shares his journey of opening his own chiropractic practice after working under various doctors and the challenges he faced, notably starting his business during the COVID-19 pandemic. They both emphasize the necessity of self-care for business owners to ensure they can effectively manage their businesses and personal lives. Nick explains the different types of stress and the holistic benefits of chiropractic care, while Katherine advocates for the importance of mental and physical clarity in achieving business success. The conversation culminates in recognizing the value of supportive networks in overcoming business hurdles.  Contact Nick - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chirowaymfalls/   #BusinessAlignment #podcast #personalpurpose #soulalignment #Personalwealth #Enjoyment #entrepreneurjourney #entrepreneur #entrepreneurlife #entrepreneurstruggles #authenticityispower #Authenticity #authenticityjourney #ExitStrategy   Song: The Way To You - Composer: Sapajou   Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl7q5R_ITPYFttJn7PyHzmw   License: Free To Use YouTube license youtube-free   Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://breakingcopyright.com     [00:00:52] Katherine Breuss: Welcome, Nick to the Soul Lined Podcast. Um, everyone, I'd to introduce Nick Lund Baum from Cairo Way. Um, I'm gonna pass it over to him though, and I'm gonna let Nick share with you who he is and his business before we get started.  [00:01:12] Nick Lundbohm: All  good morning, Katherine. Thank you. Uh, my name is,  Dr. Nick lbo. I'm a chiropractor with,  ChiroWay Chiropractic in Menominee Falls, Wisconsin. Um, I have been a chiropractor for over 20 years now,  and had decided to finally be able to open my own small business about five years ago.  After working for numerous other doctors in different ways and in many different. Chiropractic offices,  and found chiro way through a few connections from one my brother and two, a few other connections through business and found that ChiroWay was a, a very good,  model for chiropractic for me to be able to run my small business by myself.  ChiroWay is a,  up and coming franchise of locations. That allow,  convenience and affordability of chiropractic care to allow people to come in more often to receive the chiropractic care long-term, rather than utilize chiropractic care as a short-term band-aid solution. Uh, ChiroWay has added that convenience and affordability to make chiropractic more part of your life rather than something you seek out when you need it.  [00:02:38] Katherine Breuss: I love that. And  as we were talking earlier,  I studied,  chiropractic in Australia,  because I have a huge love for the human body, but al  our spine is a communication system,  I highly support,  chiropractic care. I've seen the difference it has made, not only in my own life, my children's, my mothers back in the eighties when,  chiropractors back then were considered   witch doctors.  [00:03:10] Nick Lundbohm: Yep. Um, and Yep.   Discriminated against. Exactly. All of those things.   [00:03:14] Katherine Breuss: Yeah. And  the cool thing was is that you had the, the more,   the, the spine surgeons, they wanted to put my mom under the knife and she met this amazing chiropractor,  and she ended up going that direction and she is thankful for it.  So,    [00:03:35] Nick Lundbohm: excellent.   [00:03:36] Katherine Breuss: Yeah, I have a huge, huge, huge,  love of chiropractors, but as we were also saying, not all of them are created equal. Um, Nick, we,  are talking about soul lined and the way that we see soul lined is,   It's understanding who you are and what is important to you, and then aligning that to your life and or because we're talking to business owners, your business where most of us spend the majority of our time.  [00:04:10] Nick Lundbohm: Correct. So,   [00:04:11] Katherine Breuss:  for you,  what do is being aligned and what impact does that have for you and your business?   [00:04:23] Nick Lundbohm: Well, a big part of, I would say that with my business is, and it also ties back into why I ended up with a franchise with Chiro Way,  is being able to spend a lot of time, the dedicated time that you need to spend opening and running your business, but at the same time, allowing you to have that life.  That will balance you away from your business,  such as your family, such as your children, your hobbies, whatever it is that you have, that is gonna be a unique aspect for everyone. But I feel that as a business owner, that balance needs to be there because you can't spend. Every waking hour on your business, no matter how much of a passion it is for you without having the mental wellness yourself, of being able to be away from your business, and whether that is having someone else with you to support your business, to run your business, for you to be able to step away and have your business run itself, whatever that would be.  I think that is a big. That would fit a big,   purpose in, in your soul aligned aspect of balance that needs to be part of your life when you are running a business.   [00:05:52] Katherine Breuss: Yeah, and it's, it's great speaking with someone yourself who is about,  health and wellness and. You know, for many of us business owners, and even not business owners, but  business owners in particular, we usually put ourself last.  Correct. I see it in from a sense of taking care of yourself physically, mentally, but also financially as  Mm-hmm. Um, I see a lot of business owners pay themselves last, from a, a health and wellness. Perspective. Um, what would you recommend in terms of how a business owner should look after themselves to ensure that then they can look after their business and their family and everyone else?  [00:06:40] Nick Lundbohm: Well, exactly, and. I, you, you hit hit it, hit on most of it is, is, is being able to be away from your business. Um, I, of course am, am not gonna say this in a biased manner, but I, I firmly believe business owners would benefit from being a chiropractic patient, mainly from being able to balance that,   natural innate ability for their body to.  Respond to stress and, and heal and strengthen, and be in a powerful position to benefit themselves. It, it is something that most people don't realize that they're missing until they add it into their life. Much exercise, much   proper nutrition and diet,  much getting enough sleep.  Um, those are all pillars that I emphasize with all of my clients. Um, but adding that regularity of getting adjusted that your spine is working the way it's supposed to, which supports your nervous system, which supports the entire body. If that is not functioning at 100%, you cannot function at 100%.  That is not a chiropractic. Religion that is science, and that is a science based philosophy that,  I can, and, and I don't to use the word debate because it's not a debate, it's how the body works. And a big part of, of,  health and wellness,  from my perspective is making sure people are,  seeing some chiropractic service, but then at the same time.  Getting their proper exercise, getting their proper sleep at night. Being hydrated is a huge one that people mostly overlook and getting some form of exercise, whether it's,  whatever it is that you to do. So, oh,   [00:08:38] Katherine Breuss: it's interesting, the hydration piece. Um,  when I lived in Australia, I was pretty good at it because it was warmer and we were outdoors a lot and whatnot.  And since moving here. Gosh,  I'll, I'll go through majority of the day and it'll be towards the end and I'll sit and go, oh my  I've only had this amount of water and I   [00:08:58] Nick Lundbohm: very much   [00:08:59] Katherine Breuss: completely forget. And to your point, it does make an impact. I can see how differently my system,  functions two.  Okay, a lot of people, and because I, yes, I do love chiropractic. So I'm gonna go a little bit more into this from a health perspective. Um. Most people, when they think of chiropractors or chiropractic care, they think, oh, you're gonna crack my back. And it's  if my back is outta whack or something that, that's why I would go to you.  But I know that it's a lot more than that. So,  I love that you brought up the neurology and  'cause the spine is the, it's the communication to everything. Correct. So what, in terms of, you mentioned stress, how would chiropractic. Care help someone with regards to stress.   [00:09:51] Nick Lundbohm: Okay, stress is threefold.  Everybody knows the word stress when we're talking about emotional stress, that is,  how is your life at home? How is your life at work? What's,  outside stressors are you dealing with? 24 7. That is emotional stress. However, people fail to realize that,  there is another ver, there are two other versions of stress that is physical stress and there's chemical stress.  Physical stress is what you physically put your body through every day. You know? Do you, does your job require a lot of sitting? Does your job require a lot of repetitive motion? Does your job require a lot of standing? Working. You know, I have a lot of hairdressers that are clients of mine. You know that physical stress of your body is going to physically affect your body and you can even call exercise physical stress if you are doing regular exercise as you're supposed to.  That is a good thing. But what does exercise do to your body? It's a question I ask all my clients that come in that do a little exer

  8. Episode 9

    Succession to Soul Alignment: Lessons in Business Culture and Growth with Al Leidinger

    In this episode of the AG45 Soul Aligned Strategy Podcast, host Katherine Breuss speaks with Al Leidinger, President of Matheson Manufacturing. Al discusses his journey in manufacturing and buying the company 13 years ago. He shares insights on achieving work-life balance, succession planning, and the importance of building a strong company culture. Al emphasizes the significance of hiring the right people, providing growth opportunities for employees, and maintaining open communication to create a successful and enjoyable business environment.  Contact Al - https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleidinger/   Katherine Breuss: Al I want to welcome you to the Ag 45 Soul Line Strategy [00:01:00] Podcast. Um, everyone listening,  I wanna introduce you to Al Leidinger. Um, and I'm gonna let him, I'm gonna hand the mic over to him,  and let al share with all of you who he is and also about his business. So, Al, take it away. Thank you Katherine.  Al Leidinger: Uh, pleasure to be with you. Uh, my name is Al Leidinger. I am president of Math and manufacturing. My wife business partner, and I purchased the company 13 years ago this month. Um, I am married with two kids. My daughter is 38, living in New York, and my son is 36 living in Montana. So I have two places to visit whenever I   Um. Overall, I, I have a wonderful life. I'm very blessed with who I have. I've had great business advisors. The business has been growing for the last 13 years. We're looking at succession planning over to a few employees now. Um, and in general, I have [00:02:00] an alignment with my work-life balance.  Um. I enjoy being here. I'm very passionate about the business, but at the same time, when I'm not here, I'm enjoying life and not missing it. Where in the past, all of us, in our younger days,  you go on vacation for a week and for two days you had to learn to relax. Then you have about a day or two that you relax, and then the last few days you're thinking about work again before you get back.  So,  We, my wife and I, we love gardening. We to travel. Uh, we being active, bicycling, paddle boarding, kayaking, hiking,  you name it. We live in Oconomowoc and we're a five minute walk from downtown, we enjoy living there. There's lots of activities,  wonderful area and, and great neighbors, great friends, it's a very nice, nice life.  Like I said. Oh, that's fabulous. Al can you tell us,  [00:03:00]  first of all, I wanna ask the question,  and I know this isn't gonna indicate which child, it's more of a place, what do you visiting more New York or Montana, Montana? I was  I was, I was guessing that I was, and even, I, I, even though I haven't been to Montana, it is on my bucket list.  Katherine Breuss: Um, I watched,  Yellowstone, of course the show Yellowstone, and it's Montana, and I sit and go, oh my God. It looks beautiful. And, and you, I love kayaking, paddle boarding, hiking,  skiing. So I'm jealous. Although I do to go to New York, it, it is an exciting, vibrant city and having a daughter there who knows, she's been out there 10 years, she knows the city.  Al Leidinger: Um, it is fun either way, but  mountains and outdoors a little bit better for us. Yeah. When you need an injection of city life Yeah. New York would be the place to go. Right? Right. Definitely. Um, but [00:04:00]  So Al, will you share with us a little bit more about your business? So,  maths Manufacturing is a contract manufacturing assembly company.  We specialize in light gauge sheet metal,  think computer chassis, panel boxes. Uh, we also make medical carts. We make a urology cart for a customer for the past. God, probably 20, 30 years long before I've been here. And we reverse engineered that. So they were not happy with their vendor. They sent us a cart, we redesigned it, and then now we make them from the turnkey 30 to 70 a month.  Uh, we also do simple brackets for,  companies ge. So we do,  MRI repair kit components, brackets, quick disconnects, things that. Um, my. Background and my partner's background are machine building, that's where the assembly comes in and we're trying to drive more growth into more medical devices [00:05:00] now, trying to get into aerospace a little bit more.  Um, but we are as diverse as, I said, a simple bracket to a medical carts, to, we have a customer realtime purity,  California, and we build them a. System that will tell you the contaminants and water in real life at taking an X-ray and shooting it through a thin film of water. And it'll tell you any, anything on the.  Periodic table, the contaminant in real time in the water. So,  we're trying to grow with them that we build from scratch, test ship. Uh, we also do a blood flow simulator for a company called Menis. Uh, probably about once a year. And it mimics the flow of your blood in viscosity, temperature, everything.  And they can put an artificial heart or kidney on one end of this machine and they can practice surgery before they ever cut URI open the first time. Oh wow. So we're, we're. Big gambit. Uh, [00:06:00] the other unique thing about Matheson is we're a high mix, low volume company. So it's not we do the same part 10,000 a month.  We do anything from a single part that we never see again to our repeat customers doing 50, a hundred, 150, 200 pieces at a time. Uh, we're anywhere from medical to water technology to,  sports equipment. We do a lot of treadmill stuff for a customer. Um. And a lot of, I said, chassis works. So more of these utility company panels,  embedded technologies.  Um, one of our customers, we make chassis for them that go into semiconductor making machines. So,  we're all over the place as far as markets go, which is fun because you have a nice variety of things and the guys never get bored. Well,  and I'm interested,  because this is foreign to me in terms of,   doing any of that.  Katherine Breuss: It is, it's out of my wheelhouse, but I'm fascinated. Um, [00:07:00] how did you get into this? Like what, what drove you in this direction? Um, I've been in manufacturing all my life. My father had an induction heat treating company, I. I pretty much grew up in the shop, machining, welding,  designing heat, treating equipment, building it,  testing it.  Al Leidinger: And I've always been involved in some manufacturing. I'm, I've been in probably. Five, 10 different industries from,  plastic extrusions to injection molding to foundry,  to peripheral equipment for injection molding. So building dryer systems and the, the,  vacuum movers and all the refrigeration units and that.  And I've always wanted to own my own company. And I had the opportunity,  when I was in my early fifties and,  went through a. Basic, quite frankly, a rough time. Got divorced from my first wife. I [00:08:00] only had much money left and she never, she was very risk averse and I'm more  let's do it.  So my current wife and I are very much business people and I got this job at Matheson with a potential to buy in if there was a fit. About a year and a half,  into the journey here as general manager,  Judy Matheson pulled me in the office and said, let's put a deal together. So I thought, why not? So that's how I came to be here, and that leads me, that is a perfect lead in, and I had no idea.  Katherine Breuss: So people,  listening that to me sounds incredibly soul lined. So what happened is that,  There was soul alignment there,  when you decided what you wanted, that you wanted to go down this business route, and then things, it sounds that your life started fall into place to fall into place.  So, to that,  Al I, I love it. How, [00:09:00] what do as soul aligned? Um. For me, it, it's getting that, that balance and being confident and comfortable in what I'm doing at work and also outside of work. And then   now that we're looking at succession planning is what is that next purpose in my life and what should I be doing next?  Al Leidinger: And be very ingrained in that before I even sell the business. And now we've made quite a bit of an effort where two individuals are pretty much running our company for us, and I literally have nothing to do, which is great. That's how I want to be. So I can help sell network. I do a little bookkeeping,  and I'm very comfortable with what these two guys are doing with the company and it, and it's running very   Part of my soul alignment is I want to leave a legacy with the people. When, when Judy Matheson hired me and we started going through the sale, [00:10:00] the very important thing for her and her husband was that the employees are treated  Mm-hmm. And I grew that way. I was always taught the guys of the shop make you the money.  I don't make money. I'm overhead. And I've always had that with all of my, my jobs throughout my career. And that  Was good for me to know when we took the company over, Judy and Bill were very comfortable that I would take care of the employees, which we still have. We try to do succession planning for anybody from the shop floor to,  the guys who want to take it over.  Um. My engineers are both shop floor guys from decades ago. Um, the gentleman that have been coming in over the years since we purchased the company. We try to figure,  what do you wanna learn next? Where would you to go? Give those opportunities to them to,  learn stuff. And if it's something they try and they don't it, it's,  skin off, off your nose, right?  You   go back to what you were doing. So,  you're aligning them as  [00:11:00] So even I would consider that aligning in a way of finding out, hey, what are you interested in? And,  how can we maybe make that work and support you in that? And it's, it's somewhat of a, not a selfish move, but it, it's a preservation move, right?  If I put you in a position where your strengths aren't being used, but your weaknesses are, we're all gonna fail and that employee will be miser

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Hosted by Katherine Breuss, CEO and Founder of AG45, this show is built on 30 years of hands-on experience across four countries, three businesses, and one incredible life raising four children. Katherine brings a rare, whole-person perspective to business, strategy, and leadership. This podcast is for business owners ready to stop spinning, start aligning, and build a business that delivers real value — while creating a life that actually feels like yours.

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