Vivá La Visionary™ Podcast

Coach Bob Shenefelt
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

Vivá La Visionary™ is about celebrating and elevating the Visionary entrepreneur. This podcast is for and about Visionaries to share experience and wisdom. Being a Visionary can be exhilarating but also challenging. Diving into the pitfalls, as well as the successes, can really help those on the same journey feel seen and understood. Ultimately we create a platform for Visionaries to unleash themselves and others. Hosted by Coach Bob Shenefelt, who has been coaching Visionaries for nearly 30 years. He is the founder of The Visionary Forum™, iMatter™ and Author of Unscatter the Chatter™.

  1. 12h ago

    She Built Her Own Company After Being Unseen For 18 Years | Carla Walker-Miller

    Carla Walker-Miller spent eighteen years as a sales engineer, working hard for a company that never once made her feel like the obvious choice for a promotion. She calls it being undervalued and overmanaged. Most people would have stayed. She didn't. She built Walker-Miller Energy Services from nothing into one of the country's leading clean energy companies. Her company runs energy efficiency programs across seven states and is building a virtual power plant in midtown Detroit. She still owns 100% of it. No board to answer to. Just the freedom to give her team a bonus when times are good, and the conviction to keep every single person paid through tough times. In this episode, we covered: 🡒 How Carla built a career on being a "gap finder" who sees what everyone else misses 🡒 Why keeping full ownership of her company changed every decision she makes 🡒 The Covid story that proved her core values were real 🡒 The virtual power plant she's building in Detroit right now The people who build the most extraordinary companies are usually the ones who never stopped being extraordinarily human. Thank you to my friend, Carla! For giving your time to hop to this conversation. So grateful to have you here! *Chapters* 0:00 Intro 1:00 Meeting Carla: from sales engineer to entrepreneur 6:15 Learning to celebrate success 11:08 Why core values run the company 14:33 Keeping every employee paid through Covid 19:46 What Walker-Miller Energy Services actually does 24:08 Building a virtual power plant in Detroit 31:36 Letting go of the spotlight and building other leaders 34:18 Falling in love with Detroit and owning her company outright 40:50 Courage is a renewable resource *Connect with Carla* linkedin.com/in/carla-walker-miller-27537b6 https://www.instagram.com/carlawmes/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/walker-miller-energy-services-llc/ https://www.instagram.com/wmenergyservices/ https://www.facebook.com/WalkerMillerEnergyServices/ ~~~ *Connect with Coach Bob* https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-shenefelt https://www.instagram.com/imatterrevolution https://www.facebook.com/iMatterRevolution https://x.com/iMatterCoachBob 📌 Subscribe for weekly conversations with visionaries, founders, and thought leaders! *Prefer to listen?* Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/4iCo6LWV5VJO15Tz9PTIVo Apple → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1896824840 Want to connect with entrepreneurial Visionaries who share your passion for making a real impact? 🌐 https://www.imatter.com

  2. Jul 17

    Foster Care, Three Divorces, and a Faith That Never Let Go | Nicole Parker

    Nicole Parker runs Lifeline Global Consulting in Detroit, helping entrepreneurs, especially women and economically disadvantaged founders. She's known online as the Business Doctor. She spent years homeless, went through three divorces, and once had to rebuild a business from nothing during the pandemic. Entrepreneurship found her at 26, and she calls it an invitation into another life. One night, alone on her bathroom floor, she surrendered everything she thought she had to control. That surrender became the foundation for how she coaches, builds teams, and defines success today, not as a destination, but as the process itself. What we covered: → Why she believes poverty is an illness, and healing starts in the mind → The night on her bathroom floor she calls her surrender → Why success is the process, not the outcome → How she builds boundaries using a simple framework → What's actually happening in Detroit's economy right now Real success was never the end result. It was every hard, unglamorous step that got her there, and she'll tell you that without blinking. Thank you Nicole for making the time and for being this honest about a road most people would rather not talk about. Glad to have you in this podcast! *Chapters* 00:00 Intro 01:38 Why Are You on This Planet? Nicole's Origin Story 03:03 Foster Care, Pregnant at 14, and Facing Life Alone 06:36 The Door That Opened at 26: Entering Entrepreneurship 13:27 Surrender: Wrestling With God on the Bathroom Floor 22:09 Thinking With Your Heart, Not Your Brain 26:26 Lifeline Global Consulting: Healing the Mindset of Poverty 39:34 The Spirit of Detroit Right Now 45:38 Success Is the Process: The Frying Chicken Story 1:03:43 Boundaries, GWC, and Letting the Right People Show Up  *Connect with Nicole* https://www.linkedin.com/in/drnicolesparker/  https://www.instagram.com/drnicoleparker/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/lifeline-global-consulting/  https://www.instagram.com/lifelineglobalconsulting/ https://www.facebook.com/LifeLineglobalconsulting/  ~~~ *Connect with Coach Bob* https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-shenefelt https://www.instagram.com/imatterrevolution https://www.facebook.com/iMatterRevolutionhttps://x.com/iMatterCoachBob 📌 Subscribe for weekly conversations with visionaries, founders, and thought leaders! *Prefer to listen? *Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/4iCo6LWV5VJO15Tz9PTIVo Apple → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1896824840 Want to connect with entrepreneurial Visionaries who share your passion for making a real impact? 🌐 https://www.imatter.com

  3. Jul 10

    A $700,000 Deal For a Film Gone Wrong | Brian Katz

    Brian Katz grew up in Detroit, graduated high school with a 1.8 GPA, and told a job interviewer at 23 that he wanted to be a movie producer. He didn't get the job. What followed was two decades of winding roads - AmeriCorps, tech sales, a failed business partnership, a move to LA that didn't work out, and a film deal in New Mexico that nearly came apart at the seams and cost a trusted friend $700,000. Today he's produced and financed up to 20 films, built sales channels for tech companies, and runs Umbrelic - his film development and finance company out of Detroit. We covered: → How films are financed → The difference between selling, networking, and connecting.. and why most people get all three wrong → What a $700,000 film deal gone sideways taught him about fiduciary responsibility → Staying centered under pressure Brian never stopped asking why… Why does this deal work? Why do people buy? Why do some relationships last and others fall apart? Thank you Brian for making the time to sit down with me and share all of this so openly! *Chapters* 0:00 - Introduction 1:00 - Brian's Story: 1.8 GPA to Film Sets 7:00 - AmeriCorps, Asia, and Finding His Way Back 13:00 - How Film Finance Actually Works 18:00 - When a Deal Falls Apart and You Own It 23:00 - The Biggest Lesson: Keep Your Structure 25:00 - How Brian Stays Centered and Present 28:00 - Selling, Networking, and Connecting 33:00 - Uncovering Alignment - The Right Way to Sell 43:00 - Legacy, Fatherhood, and the Best Version of Yourself 53:00 - Final Thoughts: Let Things Flow *Connect with Brian* https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-katz-b5537620/ ~~~ *Connect with Coach Bob* https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-shenefelt https://www.instagram.com/imatterrevolution https://www.facebook.com/iMatterRevolution https://x.com/iMatterCoachBob 📌 Subscribe for weekly conversations with visionaries, founders, and thought leaders! *Prefer to listen?* Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/4iCo6LWV5VJO15Tz9PTIVo Apple → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1896824840 Want to connect with entrepreneurial Visionaries who share your passion for making a real impact? 🌐 https://www.imatter.com

  4. Jul 3

    She Rolled a Car at 20 and Decided Nobody Was Going to Forget Her Name | Terra Csotty

    Terra Csotty walked into an awards ceremony still in a fog. Minutes earlier, her car had rolled three times on a Chicago expressway. Everyone lived. And standing on that stage, collecting an award she barely registered, she had one thought. I could have died and nobody knows who I am. That moment didn't break her. It aimed her. Terra owns four Real Producers publications across Michigan. She built all of it from scratch, starting from a stay at home mom with a Cutco knives background and a partner who didn't want to be on camera. She's not running a magazine. She's running a community that happens to print one. Things we tackled in this episode: → How Real Producers actually works and why realtors don't pay a dime → The difference between connecting people and selling to them → What it really takes to stay top of mind without overkill → Why she'll turn down a potential partner without burning the bridge → What success looks like when you stop tying it to a number Terra's been doing this for eight years because she loves it. That's the whole story. And she told it straight. Thanks, Terra! The rollover story alone was worth the whole conversation. Appreciate you bringing it. *Chapters* 0:00 - Intro 1:00 - Who Is Terra the Connector 3:45 - How Real Producers Works 5:40 - From Stay at Home Mom to Four Publications 6:40 - What Covid Did to the Business 9:00 - Being Referable and Why It Matters 11:20 - You Can't Sell Something You Don't Believe In 15:00 - The Business Model Behind Real Producers 20:00 - The Book, the Speaking, and What's Coming Next 21:40 - Where the Drive Actually Comes From 23:05 - The Rollover and the Moment That Changed Everything 28:40 - Patience, Parenting, and Getting Your Priorities Straight 30:50 - How She Defines Success *Connect with Terra* linkedin.com/in/terra-csotty-60a2661 https://www.instagram.com/terratheconnector/ ~~~ *Connect with Coach Bob* https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-shenefelt https://www.instagram.com/imatterrevolution https://www.facebook.com/iMatterRevolution https://x.com/iMatterCoachBob 📌 Subscribe for weekly conversations with visionaries, founders, and thought leaders! *Prefer to listen?* Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/4iCo6LWV5VJO15Tz9PTIVo Apple → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1896824840 Want to connect with entrepreneurial Visionaries who share your passion for making a real impact? 🌐 https://www.imatter.com

  5. Jun 26

    She Started a Rare Plant Business During Covid With No Plan | Jocelyn Ho

    Jocelyn Ho didn't plan to start a business. She planned to keep her plants by the window. She was a new immigrant. Covid hit. No jobs, no path forward, and a south-facing window full of rare tropical plants her husband kept complaining about. So she sold them. Made $1,000 in a weekend. Kept going. What we covered: How she went from accidental plant seller to running a full-scale rare plant operation What EO Detroit gave her that no business book could The "arrival fallacy" and why hitting the goal often leaves you emptier than you expected Staying the visionary when the business starts to need process Why she thinks right now is the best time in history to build something This conversation reminded me that the best businesses start as something you'd do anyway. Jocelyn was just honest enough to follow that. Jocelyn, thank you for being so open about the real stuff. The struggle, the doubt, and the joy you've found on the other side of it. That's the episode right there. *Chapters* 00:00 Intro 01:00 Meet Jocelyn Ho and Rare Plant Fairy 02:07 How the company name came together 03:20 Why people buy plants and what they get back 06:03 Defining entrepreneur and visionary 07:36 Staying creative when the business needs process 10:13 What EO Detroit did for her as a founder 13:48 Who buys rare plants and how the business works 14:32 From Hong Kong to Detroit: her immigration story 17:27 The arrival fallacy and redefining success 21:32 Antifragility and what it means to build something real 25:16 Growth mindset, abundance, and optimism 27:26 Why she's on this planet and what legacy means to her *Connect with Jocelyn* https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocelyn-ho-rpf https://www.instagram.com/jocelynho313/ https://www.facebook.com/rareplantfairy/ ~~~ *Connect with Coach Bob* https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-shenefelt https://www.instagram.com/imatterrevolution https://www.facebook.com/iMatterRevolution https://x.com/iMatterCoachBob 📌 Subscribe for weekly conversations with visionaries, founders, and thought leaders! *Prefer to watch?* https://youtu.be/En61dyIb7so Want to connect with entrepreneurial Visionaries who share your passion for making a real impact? 🌐 https://www.imatter.com

  6. Jun 18

    Why I Had to Stop Running My Own Company to Propel It | Mark Winter

    Mark Winter has been in PR for 30 years. He started Identity in 1998 with a one-year-old at home, no money in the bank, and his wife's 401k funding the whole thing. The harder story came later. Mark told me he had built something real, 40 people, offices in Michigan and Tampa, a client list most agencies would envy. And he almost broke it by staying too deep inside it. Letting go of the day-to-day wasn't a decision. It was a three-year process that tested his ego, his trust, and his identity. What came out on the other side was a man who finally knew what he was actually good at. We covered in this episode: → How Mark's "give before you get" philosophy shaped Identity's entire culture from day one → What it took to step back from running his own company and why it nearly didn't work → Why vision boards aren't just a motivational tool but a system Marc has used for 15 years to build his life → How a single EO referral saved his agency during Covid, replacing over $1M in lost revenue in two weeks → What modern PR actually means, and why human relationships are still the strategy that no AI can replace There's a moment in this conversation where Mark says he didn't even know what he was good at until his team told him to stop doing everything else. That part hit me... Most of us are so deep in the work that we never stop to ask what the work is actually for. Mark, thank you for showing up with zero pretense and total honesty. You've built something worth celebrating. And watching you figure out what comes next is the best part of knowing you. *Connect with Mark* https://www.linkedin.com/in/markawinter/ https://www.instagram.com/markwinter1998/ https://identitypr.com/ ~~~ *Connect with Coach Bob* https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-shenefelt https://www.instagram.com/imatterrevolution https://www.facebook.com/iMatterRevolution https://x.com/iMatterCoachBob 📌 Subscribe for weekly conversations with visionaries, founders, and thought leaders! *Prefer to listen?* Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/4iCo6LWV5VJO15Tz9PTIVo Apple → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1896824840 Want to connect with entrepreneurial Visionaries who share your passion for making a real impact? 🌐 https://www.imatter.com

  7. Jun 12

    The PhD Race Car Driver Who Built 250 Brands From Scratch | Dr. Mark Young

    Dr. Mark Young has a PhD in psychology and neuroscience, holds a Guinness World Record in pro racing, runs a leading consumer packaged goods agency, and has built over 250 brands. He's a lot of things. But what struck me most was how he got there. Mark grew up in a blue collar town. His dad was a plumber. And if he had told anyone at 18 what his life would eventually look like, he said they'd have either laughed him off or assumed he was on something. He would have probably agreed with them. The shift happened when he stopped asking "why me" and started asking "why not me." That one question changed everything. Here’s what we covered in this episode: → Why he replaced the word "control" with "influence" and how that changed his business and his racing → The moment he stopped blaming other people for his failures and what happened next → How modern medicine treats symptoms while functional medicine hunts for root causes → Why 80% of all consumer products still sell through brick and mortar, not Amazon → What AI is going to do to entry-level workers, and who benefits Mark has this way of cutting through the noise that I don't come across that often. He's honest about what things cost, what they take, and what you have to be willing to let go of. Thank you to Mark for sitting down with me and sharing all of it. The racing story alone was worth the whole conversation! *Chapters* 0:00 - Introduction: Meet Dr. Mark Young 1:09 - Building a Universe That Fits Your Mind 2:01 - Free Days, Focus Days, and the Dan Sullivan Framework 2:17 - Pro Racing as a Second Career 3:04 - Racing as a Metaphor for Business and Life 6:01 - Replacing Control With Influence 8:31 - Flow State on the Track and in Work 12:07 - The 27 Unbreakable Rules: New Book Overview 16:41 - Firing Clients and Setting the Floor 19:51 - Endurance Racing vs. Playing to Win 21:38 - The Three Things Jekyll and Hyde Labs Does 23:02 - Health, Longevity, and Advocating for Yourself 33:18 - Functional Medicine vs. Treating Symptoms 36:14 - Hypnotherapy and How It Actually Works 41:49 - AI, Automation, and the Future of Work 51:57 - The "Why Not Me" Mindset That Changed Everything 59:27 - How to Connect With Dr. Mark Young 1:05:32 - Viva La Visionary: Celebrating the Crazy Ones *Connect with Dr. Mark* https://www.linkedin.com/in/markyoungwci/ https://jandhlabs.com/ ~~~ *Connect with Coach Bob* https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-shenefelt https://www.instagram.com/imatterrevolution https://www.facebook.com/iMatterRevolution https://x.com/iMatterCoachBob 📌 Subscribe for weekly conversations with visionaries, founders, and thought leaders! *Prefer to listen?* Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/4iCo6LWV5VJO15Tz9PTIVo Apple → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1896824840 Want to connect with entrepreneurial Visionaries who share your passion for making a real impact? 🌐 https://www.imatter.com

  8. Jun 5

    Why Most Business Owners Aren't Really Visionaries | Bob Thomas

    Bob Thomas has been at the Michigan Chamber of Commerce for nearly 30 years. Along the way, Bob had to figure out who he actually was as a leader. He realized he was an Integrator. Good at execution, process, and holding things together. What he didn't expect was to find genuine visionary tendencies underneath all of that. Working inside a framework that gave him permission to think bigger changed the way he showed up, both in business and at home. He built something big. But he had to learn how to let it go. What we talked about in this episode: → What the Michigan Chamber actually does (and why most people have no idea) → The 3-3-1 morning practice that keeps Bob focused on what matters most → Why most leaders resist "letting go of the vine" → How visionary tendencies and integrator skills can live in the same person → Why AI is creating more room for humans to do what machines can't The big takeaway: vision is something you practice and build a system around. And it starts with getting honest about what matters most to you, beyond the business. Bob, thank you for being so open in this one. Thirty years in a mission is its own kind of vision. I'm grateful you shared it. *Chapters* 0:00:00 - Welcome to Vivá La Visionary 0:00:22 - Visionary vs. Integrator: Where Bob Lands 0:01:44 - How EOS Unlocked Entrepreneurial Thinking Inside a Nonprofit 0:03:35 - What the Michigan Chamber of Commerce Actually Does 0:07:45 - Not Your Grandfather's Chamber 0:17:02 - What Vision Really Means for Leaders 0:20:26 - How Many Business Owners Are True Visionaries? 0:24:15 - The 3-3-1 Morning Practice 0:27:59 - Letting Go of the Vine 0:38:24 - Why Bob Has Stayed at the Chamber for 30 Years 0:42:05 - The Next Generation, AI, and the Case for Being Human 0:52:26 - Spirit, Surrender, and What Really Drives the Work *Connect with Bob Thomas* https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasbob/ https://www.michamber.com/ ~~~ *Connect with Coach Bob* https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-shenefelt https://www.instagram.com/imatterrevolution https://www.facebook.com/iMatterRevolution https://x.com/iMatterCoachBob 📌 Subscribe for weekly conversations with visionaries, founders, and thought leaders! *Prefer to listen?* Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/4iCo6LWV5VJO15Tz9PTIVo Apple → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1896824840 Want to connect with entrepreneurial Visionaries who share your passion for making a real impact? 🌐 https://www.imatter.com

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About

Vivá La Visionary™ is about celebrating and elevating the Visionary entrepreneur. This podcast is for and about Visionaries to share experience and wisdom. Being a Visionary can be exhilarating but also challenging. Diving into the pitfalls, as well as the successes, can really help those on the same journey feel seen and understood. Ultimately we create a platform for Visionaries to unleash themselves and others. Hosted by Coach Bob Shenefelt, who has been coaching Visionaries for nearly 30 years. He is the founder of The Visionary Forum™, iMatter™ and Author of Unscatter the Chatter™.

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