How's Business?! by Bottleneck.io

Adam Ferrante

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Entrepreneurship

The How’s Business Podcast goes behind the scenes with talented entrepreneurs to learn about the stories, decisions, failures, and lessons that got them there.

18h ago

EP.9 - Pete Smith (The Gaf, The Waylon)

In this episode, Adam sits down with his first cousin Pete Smith, a co-owner of Gaf West, a neighborhood Irish pub a few blocks off Times Square, and The Waylon, a honky-tonk and Tex-Mex spot on Tenth Avenue in Hell's Kitchen. Pete grew up upstate, transferred to Fordham to study journalism, and got thrown out of the dorms over a copied master key. The apartment he found happened to be next to a pub. He became a regular, then a bartender, and within about a year the absentee owner in Kansas asked him to run the place. He was 23. He called friends from home to help, and the only one who said yes, Pat Heenan, is still his partner today. The conversation covers how two kids with no business training turned a bar into an education on someone else's dime. Pete explains why his dad made him save $35,000 in a shoebox before he'd accept the bartending life, how that money went into a Greenpoint apartment in 2008, and how it took years of persistence to buy the Gaf in 2012. He gets into the buildout of The Waylon, lying awake realizing an unopened bar was costing him $400 a day, and why skipping any market research on a country bar in Manhattan meant building a following from scratch. He also shares why a chapter on POS systems in Danny Meyer's Setting the Table led to a change that added more than $100,000 in sales the next year, why he figures two out of ten theme parties hitting is a win, and why simple pubs with no kitchen have been holding up while restaurants struggle. Pete also gets candid about renting out his apartment on Airbnb and sleeping at the bar or the Greenpoint YMCA to pay off a new bar faster, and the grief he took for it. He talks about scaling by making longtime bartenders partners, buying a roughly 80-year-old bar in Queens and changing its name, and playing by an outer scorecard for years, looking successful on paper while feeling miserable. Now in his 40s, he shares his three lessons: never be all flash and no cash, set a high standard for your bare minimum, and don't punch down on your way up. Whether you're dreaming of opening a bar when you retire, a first-time owner learning what a buildout really costs, or someone wondering if you can build a good life without following everyone else's script, this episode is full of honest lessons on money, partnership, and knowing when enough is enough. Find Pete at Gaf West, 401 W 48th St, New York: https://www.gafwest.com Instagram (Gaf West): https://www.instagram.com/gafwestnyc/ Find The Waylon at 736 10th Ave, New York: https://www.thewaylon.com Instagram (The Waylon): https://www.instagram.com/thewaylonnyc/ Facebook (The Waylon): https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009820656246 Want to appear on the show? Find more about the podcast at: https://howsbusinesspodcast.com
Nov 2

EP.8 - Tony Marmo (Normann Staffing)

In this episode, Adam sits down with Tony Marmo, a longtime Hudson Valley Rotarian and the President and owner of Normann Staffing in Kingston, New York. If you’ve spent any time in the local community, there’s a good chance you already know Tony. He’s the kind of person who keeps showing up for his community, and he’ll tell you his real job is connecting people. Tony started his career in 1977 as a staff accountant at St. Luke’s Hospital in Newburgh, taking the job because it paid fifty cents an hour more than IBM. That choice turned into thirty-seven years in healthcare, including nine years as President and CEO of Kingston Hospital. He shares how, while he was running the hospital, he was a client of a local staffing agency, and how years later, after deciding he was done working for other people, he bought that same agency. He also opens up about getting fired, what it taught him, and what it takes to become an entrepreneur after a whole career in someone else’s organization. Whether you’re thinking about starting something new later in your career or you’re a business owner trying to build a team that sticks, you’ll walk away with a new appreciation for how much any business depends on its people, and why, as Tony puts it, people should love their jobs, and companies should love their staff. Find Tony and Normann Staffing at: https://www.normannstaffing.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonypmarmo/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tony9val/Check out the Beacon Rotary Club: https://beaconrotary.com/ Want to appear on the show? Find more about the podcast at: https://howsbusinesspodcast.com
Oct 26

EP.7 - Blake Albanese (Agile InfoTech)

In this episode, Adam sits down with Blake Albanese, a partner at Agile Infotech, an outsourced IT company serving small and medium businesses across the Hudson Valley. Blake has been a networker since he was eight, when he walked onto a new neighbor's lawn in Goshen and introduced himself. That neighbor was Jason, who would go on to found Agile. Blake grew up on the floor of his parents' physical therapy practice, picked up Rich Dad, Poor Dad in its kids' version from his dad, and went on to study business and finance at Babson. When he graduated into a job market with no jobs, he started helping Jason with the books, taught swim lessons and became a personal trainer on the side, and put his sweat equity into a company that barely paid. By 2025 he was a partner running finance and sales. The conversation covers what it takes to learn an industry from scratch. Blake admits that at his first networking events, his best description of the business was "computer stuff," so he started riding along on client visits to put his hands on the hardware. He explains what a managed service provider actually does, why the industry moved from fixing things after they break to watching them before they do, and why outsourced IT isn't the faceless call center people expect. He walks through how Agile came together after merging with a VoIP startup, how the team runs on EOS and Traction with a visionary, an integrator and clear roles, and why "if everything is important, nothing is important" changed how he prioritizes. Blake also gets into how he uses AI to run his day, including the AI assistant that booked his first meeting with Adam before they ever spoke, reads him his task list on the drive, and drafts his follow-up emails. He shares why he still thinks business comes down to people, what he's learned from his peer group and the books on his shelf, and the company's target of 3,000 secured endpoints. Whether you're fresh out of school with no offers, learning an industry you didn't study, or a small business owner wondering how to get your IT off your plate, this episode is full of lessons on mentorship, prioritization, continuous learning, and putting yourself in the room. Find Blake and Agile Infotech online at https://www.aitechny.com LinkedIn (Blake): https://www.linkedin.com/in/blake-albanese LinkedIn (Agile Infotech): https://www.linkedin.com/company/agile-info-tech Want to appear on the show? Find more about the podcast at: https://howsbusinesspodcast.com
Oct 19

EP.6 - Jennifer Austin (Hospitality Inherited)

In this episode, Adam sits down with Jennifer Austin, who runs a community magazine in Beacon, New York, that brings local events, expert advice, sports, real estate and a featured family together in one place. It isn't a magazine full of ads and fluff. It's built on stories from the community and the business owners who serve it, and it gives local businesses an organic way to get in front of their neighbors. Jennifer has spent her whole life connecting people. She grew up a hotel kid, watching her dad turn around struggling properties by seeing them through the customer's eyes. That hospitality mindset carried her through boutique hotels in Manhattan like the Iroquois, the Michelangelo and the Distrikt Hotel, and on to City Winery in Montgomery, NY. Now she brings the same instincts to publishing: listening first, telling a client when she's not the right fit, and helping businesses share what makes them worth trusting. She also shares how she turned the cold calls she used to dread into something she actually enjoys. Whether you're a local business owner trying to stand out in your community or someone who wants to sell without feeling salesy, you'll walk away with a new appreciation for the details your customers notice, and how telling your story can turn neighbors into loyal clients. You can contact Jennifer on LinkedIn @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermaustin/ Want to appear on the show? Find more about the podcast at: https://howsbusinesspodcast.com
Oct 12

EP.5 - Justin Corson (Wreck Room HV)

In this episode, Adam sits down with Justin Corson, owner of Wreck Room HV, the Hudson Valley's place to grab a bat and smash TVs, dishes, and everything else weighing on you. Justin traces his path from St. Louis to culinary school in the Hudson Valley, a year back at the culinary school as a manager-in-training, a few local restaurants, and about eight years managing a small cafe he calls a local institution, to the celebrity-chef dreams, a Chopped tryout, and a YouTube venture that never quite panned out. When the frustration piled up, a conversation with his therapist sparked an idea: there wasn't a single rage room within two hours, so he built one himself. The conversation covers what it really costs to open a business nobody in your area has done before. Justin breaks down why he walked away from a $300,000 franchise fee plus 6–8% of revenue and built it for half, the thousands he wasted on jumpsuits nobody wanted, and why he won't print merch until he knows people will buy it. He explains how he was so busy in his first months that he had to turn customers away for lack of things to smash, and how partnerships with local thrift stores and the Habitat ReStore solved his supply problem. He also gets into the cash surprises of year two: a lease he paid upfront that came due in full again, and an insurance "renewal" that was really a brand-new policy with 25% down. Justin gets candid about the real cost of ownership: wearing every hat from janitor to social media manager, hiring help to get home to his family only to fire him over a safety violation, and why you should plan on three times the money and half the family time you expect. He makes the case that the restaurant industry treats burnout as a badge of honor, that society teaches us to bury our anger instead of releasing it, and that everyone who looks perfect online is fighting the same battles. He also opens up about his younger son's autism journey, the local therapy program that helped him find his voice, and his dream of adding sensory rooms so families of kids with disabilities can finally do something together. Whether you're a career-changer with an idea nobody in your town has tried, a first-year owner staring down cash flow surprises, or someone who needs a reminder that it's okay to be angry, this episode is packed with hard-won lessons on planning, money, mental health, and the mindset to smash through fear instead of being paralyzed by it. Find Justin and Wreck Room Hudson Valley at the Poughkeepsie Galleria and online at https://wreckroomhv.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wreckroomhudsonvalley/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Wreck-Room-HV-61580917328253/ Want to appear on the show? Find more about the podcast at: https://howsbusinesspodcast.com
Oct 5

EP.4 - Angelo Ferrante (Advanced DRI)

In this episode, Adam sits down with his father, Angelo Ferrante — partner at Advanced Disaster Recovery (Advanced DRI) — to trace a family's journey from an Italian immigrant grandfather who couldn't read or write to a multi-generational construction and restoration empire. Angelo shares how his father built a home-building business from scratch in the 1970s, how he and his brother Mike swung hammers on job sites as kids, and how they grew the family business to 50 homes a year across Orange County, New York — only to nearly lose it all when the 2008 housing market collapsed beneath them. The conversation covers the gut-punch of watching spec houses sit unsold, the decision to pivot into remodeling just to keep the lights on, and the accidental discovery of disaster restoration that changed everything. Angelo breaks down how meeting the right business partner led to a private equity acquisition, and how they scaled from two offices to twelve with 170 employees — buying companies across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New York. He also explains why a disaster recovery company now employs three AI developers, how they're using AI in 3D scanning, automated estimating, and call systems, and why the most important lesson he learned too late was simply knowing his numbers. Angelo gets candid about the real cost of entrepreneurship — the missed games, the sleepless nights at 2 AM, and why you can't make up lost family time two decades later. He makes the case that paying subcontractors every dime even when you only have $2 in the bank is non-negotiable, that social media's Lamborghini lifestyle is a lie, and that true wealth has nothing to do with what's in the bank. He also talks openly about the unique challenge of working alongside family for forty years, the E-Myth lesson that the best carpenter can still go broke without a balance sheet, and what's next for him at 58 — including a possible return to swinging a hammer, this time for Habitat for Humanity. Whether you're a tradesperson thinking about starting your own business, a family-run operation navigating growth and succession, or someone wondering what it really takes to survive a market crash and come out the other side, this episode is packed with hard-won lessons on persistence, numbers, relationships, and the mindset to keep going when the world falls apart. Want to appear on the show? Find more about the podcast at: https://howsbusinesspodcast.com
Sep 28

EP. 3 - Camden Olivero (Niche & Needle Marketing)

In this episode, Adam sits down with Camden Olivero, founder of Niche & Needle Marketing, to trace the path from scraping paint in college to co-founding a venture-backed laundry tech startup and ultimately building a marketing agency for local service businesses. Camden shares how a personal hatred for folding laundry sparked ClothesLyne, a tech company he helped grow from zero to one across two accelerator programs (Generator in Reno, NV and Techstars in New York City), raising capital from angel investors and boutique hotel groups along the way. He breaks down the hard decision to walk away after four years of blood, sweat, and tears, and how he applied a startup-grade, data-driven approach to everyday businesses that were used to running on referrals alone. The conversation covers the difference between Google Search Ads and Meta Ads and why Camden regularly talks clients out of social media in favor of channels that actually generate revenue for their budget. He explains why boosting posts is the fast-food version of advertising, how call tracking and attribution can turn a $500 ad spend into a measurable ROI, and why the most untapped opportunity for most small businesses isn't a new platform it's the CRM data they're already sitting on. Camden also pushes back on the "self-made" myth, arguing that no one builds anything alone, and makes the case that in a world of AI-generated content, authenticity and owner-facing video matter more than ever. Whether you're a founder weighing when to scale, a small business owner trying to figure out where to spend your first marketing dollars, or someone building a brand beyond your own name, this episode is packed with practical insights on marketing, entrepreneurship, and the mindset to keep moving the needle. Want to appear on the show? Find more about the podcast at: https://hows.business
Sep 19

EP. 2 - Angel Rodriguez (Healthy In Color / Sugar Crusher)

In this episode, Adam sits down with Angel Rodriguez, chef-turned-entrepreneur and founder of Health in Color, to unpack the journey from cooking rice and beans in the Dominican Republic to building a wellness brand in Beacon, New York. Angel shares how learning to cook at 12, surviving seven and a half years on Royal Caribbean cruise ships cooking 12,000+ plates a day, and bouncing back from a failed food truck and a dead-end juice company shaped his resilience. He breaks down how a hypertension diagnosis led him to the DASH diet, which became the foundation for Health in Color and the Sugar Crusher Shot — a wellness shot using apple cider vinegar, ginger, and avocado oil designed to blunt glucose spikes and help you feel better after the meals you're already eating. The conversation covers the science of food order, why your brain fights diet change, the staggering sugar hidden in everyday foods, and why the 2 PM crash most people accept as normal is anything but. Whether you're a founder navigating failure or someone trying to eat better without giving up the foods you love, this episode is packed with hard-won insights on food, entrepreneurship, and the mindset to keep pushing forward. Want to appear on the show? Find more about the podcast at: https://hows.business
Sep 6

EP. 1 - Johnny Dehler (Scale Simple)

In this episode, Adam sits down with Johnny Dehler, founder of Scale Simple, to unpack what it really takes to build and scale a sales function for your business. Johnny shares his unconventional path from playing college baseball to living in Germany and Mexico with nothing but $2,000 and a dead phone - and how those character-building moments shaped his entrepreneurial mindset. They dive deep into the power of mentorship, the brutal reality of door-to-door sales, and why understanding your customer avatar through face-to-face conversations beats any digital ad metric. Johnny opens up about a profound business depression that nearly broke him, the lessons learned from scaling a 25-person telecom sales team, and why he believes most entrepreneurs are paralyzed by fear of the unknown. The conversation also covers practical frameworks like SMART goals for employee development, the balance between sales and operations, how to think critically about AI in your business (including Jeff Bezos's one-way vs. two-way door decision framework), and why the best salespeople often make the best leaders. Whether you're a solo founder stuck in the weeds or scaling a growing team, this episode is packed with hard-won insights on sales, systems, and the mindset it takes to keep pushing forward.

9 Episodes

The How’s Business Podcast goes behind the scenes with talented entrepreneurs to learn about the stories, decisions, failures, and lessons that got them there.

Creator

Adam Ferrante
Years Active

2026
Episodes

9
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© 2026 Solve Your Bottleneck LLC
Show Website

How's Business?! by Bottleneck.io