Business Over Beer TH3 Entertainment

This episode was recorded live from The Ripple Space in Downtown Vancouver, WA at the Passages to Success Fall Conference. Our guest is Chris Hays, President and COO of ZoomInfo.
It's not often that you get to talk to an executive leader of this caliber. Chris shared his experience in growing ZoomInfo into a multibillion dollar public company and provide very relatable ideas for small business owners around sales, growth, scaling, failure, exit strategy, and ways to weather an economic downturn.
Prost!
Episode Highlights:
0:37 Introductions
2:45 ZoomInfo's commitment to Vancouver, WA
5:30 The Beer portion of the program
7:57 How to manage growth & executing on opportunities
10:56 Learning from failure
14:20 Best ways to focus on your Total Addressable Market (TAM) - fit and intent
17:33 How company size impacts your ability to pivot
19:56 Ripcord moments
21:21 Cofounding a small business
26:32 Always have a contract
28:11 Tips for scaling your business
32:15 The natural tension between Sales and Operations
34:57 The hardest thing Chris had to sell
35:50 Keys to weathering an economic downturn
39:30 Ways to look bigger as a small business
42:15 The Final Action
43:45 Wrap up
Guest Beer:
Victor 23 Craft Brewery - Vancouver, WA
Briefcase Full of Hops, Fresh Hop Hazy IPA, 7% ABV

Thanks to all our Sponsors of the Passages to Success Fall Conference:
Comcast Business
The Port of Vancouver
Gravitate
Greenhaven Landscapes
Rational Unicorn
In Light Hyperbarics
Twin Star Credit Union
Chase
Victor 23 Craft Brewery
Valo Cellars
Heathen Brewing
K Water Store
The Barbers

This episode was recorded live from our Passages to Success monthly member event at IV Tea Company in downtown Vancouver, WA. Our guest is Natalie Fairchild, Founder and Chief Inspirational Office with Pacific Perks, a mobile cafe that creates personalized experiences for families and organizations in the Pacific Northwest.
Small Business Owners are experiencing a wide variety of hiring challenges in today's market. In this episode, we do a deep dive into some of those challenges. We discuss the notion of The Great Resignation, and Natalie shares with us some creative solutions for a more effective hiring process. In addition, Natalie shares with us her 5 Rules for Business Basics and shares some big news about the future of her company.
Prost!
Episode Highlights:
0:08 Intro
1:11 Thanks to our Sponsors
3:35 Top Hiring Challenges
5:00 Welcome Natalie Fairchild Founder of Pacific Perks
6:36 The Great Resignation
9:44 Creative Problem Solving in the hiring process
12:52 How many spaces after a period?
16:35 Changing the old school mentality
17:58 The role of storytelling in the hiring process
20:47 Constantly recruiting for great candidates
23:54 The beer portion of the program
26:45 How pivoting can help you make the best of a bad situation
32:30 5 Rules for Business Basics
37:48 Franchising at Pacific Perks
43:05 Balance your work and maintain your flexibility
47:47 The Final Action
50:15 Contact Natalie
50:42 Wrap Up
51:20 Meet Jason Huggins with our Sponsor Twin Star Credit Union

Guest Beer:
Blue Moon Brewing Company - Denver, CO
Blue Moon Belgian Style Wheat Ale, 5.4% ABV, 9 IBU

Episode Links:
Passages to Success
Natalie Fairchild
Pacific Perks
Top Hiring Challenges from BMA Group

Thanks to our Sponsors!
Twin Star Credit Union
Chucks Produce
IV Tea
Loowit Brewing

Coming to you live from The Clark County Historical Museum in Vancouver Washington, this was recorded at our April 2022 Passages to Success member Event.
We are excited to have Owners Jon Dyer and Kara Bowman of CheckRight NW, a Bookkeeping and Payroll company based in Vancouver, WA.
Her journey from 10 hours a week to 10 hours a day
Jon started offering bookkeeping services while getting his accounting degree and by the time he graduated, he had an established business. The question was whether or not to change to a CPA business or stay the course.
He stayed the course, growing from just bookkeeping, in an office barely big enough for two people, to multiple offices all over Portland, OR Metro and expanding in to Payroll Services as well.
Kara started as a part time employee in 2012 as Jon's first hire, and has now become a Partner in the business.
Episode Highlights:
00:42 Introductions
3:53 High level overview of CheckRight NW
5:10 The beer portion of the program
6:30 Our first ever live TikTok
11:25 How John and Kara came together
17:55 Should have quit my jobs sooner ("18:50 I wish I would've just let go of some of things that were holding me back")
19:40 Work life balance
24:40 Building their company culture
30:05 How Kara went from employee to partner
36:25 Curiosity as a cornerstone of growth
41:03 Don't bake for clients
45:11 How their Customer Service culture will drive future growth decisions
49:15 Advice for small business owners about growth
53:30 The Final Question
55:55 Contact information
57:20 Wrap up
Episode Links:
Passages to Success
CheckRight NW
Kara Bowman
John Dyer
Jon's Mom's Google Review
Von Ebert Brewing
Sector 7 Hazy IPA

Business Over Beer episode 110 with Gus Farah | Executive VP of Operations for the Ridgefield Raptors
"Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack"... because we're going out to the ball park with Gus Farah, Executive VP of Operations for the Ridgefield Raptors baseball team.

In this episode, Gus shares with us that he was born in Cuba and his family relocated to Portland, OR when he was a young child. Professionally, he spent 17 years running the revenue generation side for five CBS Radio Stations in Portland. Also, he ran sponsorship sales for the Portland Trail Blazers before joining the ownership group of the Raptors.

The West Coast League that the Raptors play in, along with the the Cowlitz Bears that Gus and his partners also own, has expanded by five teams for the 2022 season including several teams in Canada, showing that this is a great way to build community around baseball and to give a professional level development for college players.

The Raptors are committed to affordable family friendly entertainment for all of Southwest Washington and bringing the joy of baseball to new generations of players and fans.

Prost!

Episode Highlights:
0:48 Introductions

3:57 50,000 foot view of the Ridgefield Raptors

6:28 The beer portion of the program

8:26 What makes baseball a great sport

10:25 Why players come to the West Coast League

14:15 Gus' Background

17:30 The business side of things

20:53 Appealing to the younger generation

24:50 Angie's Mystery Beer

30:00 Baseball in the Pacific Northwest

34:33 Commitment to the game of baseball

39:40 Advice for other small business owners

44:27 The Final Question

46:08 Contact Info

47:27 Wrap Up



Guest Beer:
Belching Beaver Brewery - Oceanside, CA

Peanut Butter Milk Stout, 5.3% ABV, 30 IBU

"Don’t let the dark color fool you, this beer is delightfully easy to drink with cascading aromas of roasted peanuts, dark chocolate and coffee. Good times to you my friend, and welcome to the beaver family!"



Angie's Mystery Beer:
Wild Ride Brewing - Redmond, OR

Nut Crusher Peanut Butter Porter, 6% ABV, 18 IBU

"We love beer. And we love peanut butter. And Nut Crusher Peanut Butter Porter is here to bring the best of these two worlds together! With notes of chocolate and caramel, this porter is complemented by the addition of creamy peanut butter flavor. It's a true liquid peanut butter cup, and it's here for you to enjoy."


Episode Links:
Ridgefield Raptors

Gun Farah

Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex

West Coast League

Northwest Star Academy

Pink Lemonade Project

Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard

On this episode of Business Over Beer, we have Passages To Success member and owner of Escape Zone 360, Ben Bevard.  

Ben originally had the idea for his escape room while taking a marketing class in college, and when the pandemic hit, he found himself in a position to start his own business. Not only was he able to get it up and running, he has expanded, adding a second escape room in 2021. 

Escape Zone 360 provides immersive - device free - entertainment, that is family friendly, perfect for birthdays, youth groups, and celebrations of all kinds. In addition, Escape Zone 360 is great for businesses for a fun day out of the office, or through team building with a professional business coach. 

Starting and growing your own business is never easy, but as Ben has shown, if you have the courage to take some risks, it can pay off by turning your dream into reality. 

Prost!

 

Episode Highlights:
0:43 Introductions

1:15 50,000 foot view of Escape Zone 360

2:00 Inspired by the love of travel

3:21 Types of escape rooms?

7:21 The consumer that never leaves

9:00 The escape room community - co-petitors not competitors

11:00 Good for your mental health

12:52: Team building

17:07 Why an escape room

18:54 Business growth lessons

20:39 Ideal clients of Escape Zone 360

23:02 The Final Question

24:55 Wrap Up

 

Episode Links:
Escape Zone 360

Ben Bevard

Escape Room movie

Audrey Clark Co.

Business Over Beer

On this episode of Business Over Beer, we have Passages To Success member and local realty expert, Diana Rutherford.  

A former Collegiate Athlete, Diana's experience playing softball has helped her develop more of a teammate approach to her real estate business as a way to best serve her clients. She first got into Real Estate though her dad's business, and is now taking a fresh approach to the real estate industry centered around service. Diana believes that we are all better together and through more human connection we can build a better community.   

Prost!

 

Episode Highlights:
0:43 Intros

1:17 50k foot view

2:15 What's with the softball uniform

3:24 Iowa State

4:10 Service is number 1

6:35 How got Diana into real estate

10:40 Importance of adjustment

12:43 Navigating areas she's not good at

15:50 Rewriting the realty playbook

20:36 Push Back to the new playbook

23:45 The Final Question

27:42 Wrap Up

 

Episode Links:
At Home With Diana

Realty By Rutherford

PNW Real Estate

Realty One Group Cascadia

Iowa State Cyclones

Business Over Beer