Authentic Business Adventures Podcast

Draw In Customers Business Coach James Kademan
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The business podcast designed for entrepreneurs and small business owners to be inspired by, listen to, enjoy and take some action from.

  1. 6D AGO

    Unlocking Hidden Revenue

    Doug Brown - CEO Sales Strategies On Knowing What to Look For: "Number one, we help companies find revenue, hidden revenue that they already paid for but they haven't collected in their bank." There's a funny thing about business, and that is that your entrepreneurial journey will take you places you may have never dreamed of.  This can often mean that you are in a situation, with a business, that you may not fully understand.  That can lead to you leaving money on the table.  So how do you make sure your business sis as profitable as possible? Doug Brown learned these lessons early on.  Trial by fire, similar to how many of us entrepreneurs get taught.  After years of experience and some profitable success, he decided it was time to share his knowledge. From sweeping floors at his father’s electric machinery repair shop as a young child to discovering multi-million dollar opportunities inside companies, Doug Brown shares his journey through entrepreneurship, the lessons learned from the trenches, and the emotional impact of helping business owners transform not just their companies, but their lives. Listen as Dough explains some things to look for in your business to make sure you keep of the cash you have earned. Enjoy! Visit Doug at: https://ceosalesstrategies.com/   Podcast Overview: 00:00 "Entrepreneurial Journey and Business Insights" 05:29 Early Lessons in Business Leadership 15:06 Medicine to Music Business Shift 16:48 From Medicine to Business Success 25:18 "Straight Talk Changed My Life" 26:58 "Moral Obligation to Guide Others" 33:37 "Connection Builds Rapport" 37:36 "Preventing Revenue Leakage" 43:57 Customer Insights Through Questions 47:42 "Seeking Feedback on Past Missteps" 56:06 Effective Prospecting Leads to Opportunities 01:01:24 "Hiring: Learning and Improvement" 01:03:34 "Preparing for Top Talent" 01:10:10 "Skate to Future Success" Sponsors: Live Video chat with our customers here with LiveSwitch: https://join.liveswitch.com/gfj3m6hnmguz Some videos have been recorded with Riverside: https://www.riverside.fm/?utm_campaign=campaign_5&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=rewardful&via=james-kademan Podcast Transcription: Doug Brown [00:00:00]: So what they would do is they did a two and a half hour business training and at the end of the, toward the end of the training, they would go around the room and say, hey James, what did you find here? And you go, Well, I found $600,000 in my business, you know, and they go from person to person to person. They were small rooms, they were only like 10 to 20 people. But what they were doing after that, you know, I mean, they were literally finding sometimes hundreds of millions of dollars in these trainings. Right? James Kademan [00:00:30]: You have found Authentic Business Ventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found in the podcast link phone@drawincustomers.com we are locally underwritten by the Bank of Sun Prairie, Calls On Call Extraordinary Answering Service, the Bold Business Book and Live Switch. Today we're welcoming Slash, preparing to learn from Doug C. Brown of CEO Sales Strategies. So Doug, how are you doing today? Doug Brown [00:00:59]: James? I'm doing great. Thanks for having me here. I'm so grateful. James Kademan [00:01:02]: Yeah, you know, it's funny, I just came back from a trade show in Florida, so. And when you work in a booth, the name of the game is sales. So I'm excited to talk to you now because maybe I should have talked to you last week before I went to this thing. Let's just lay the foundation. What is CEO Sales strategies? Doug Brown [00:01:19]: So the company itself is a company that does primarily four things. Number one, we help companies find revenue, hidden revenue that they already paid for but they haven't collected in their bank. And I don't mean, you know, outstanding invoices, I mean in the whole customer journey, there are places where revenue just stagnated, stopped, not optimized. Could be, you know, something as simple as pricing dormant clients, lack of follow up, something like that. Where we get in there, we find what that revenue is and we, we go, you know, identify it and then help collect it and put that money in the bank for the folks. We also do that with margins, ebitda, so profit, if you will, in some capacities. We manage or build, you know, teams of sales people as well for companies. And then we end up coaching CEOs and founder led businesses on how to do all of the above. James Kademan [00:02:28]: All right, and how do you get involved in something like this? Imagine you don't. Just, you're not born with sales strategies for CEOs. Doug Brown [00:02:37]: No, no, I actually it started when I was very young. I didn't realize it until, you know, I'm 63. This year and I was doing a podcast and somebody asked me, how did you learn what you're doing? And I actually started working for my father's business when I was three years. And. Yeah, three, all right. Yeah, I was sweeping floors for 25 cents a week. I loved it because they used to bring me to the, to the lunches, you know, so we'd go to like the, the local, you know, pub and grub, if you will, or whatever. They prop me up on the bar stool, give me my Roy Rogers and they'd sit and have business conversations. Doug Brown [00:03:19]: I hear my mother wasn't too pleased they took me to the bars. James Kademan [00:03:22]: But, you know, you learn in all kinds of places. So it's all. Doug Brown [00:03:28]: So, you know, a lot of that stuff when we're with children, it sets in. Like you hear CEOs and business owners talking and, and so along the path, you know, we started selling at 5 or 6 to clients, but it was a family owned business, so the family helped me. And one day I sold a part for $20 and we paid 10 for it. And I realized I was making 25 cents a week at that point, which was still pretty good for that time. But I had to work a whole week for 10 bucks. And I just did this in like six minutes. Right. So what I realized is you can make money by looking at ratios and numbers and that's where it kind of started. Doug Brown [00:04:10]: So even in my dad's business when I was a young boy, I mean, 10 years old, I'm looking at his inventory and trying to figure out, because, you know, when you have inventory at the end of the year, you got to pay taxes on it. And so I was looking at, like, how do we widen out the margins in the company? And I, I always had my own businesses growing up since 13, and you know, I always worked my dad until I was up to about 19, before I went into the military. And so I was kind of doing this with all these businesses back then and that's how it sort of started. I didn't realize it, but then as I got into larger businesses, you know, tens of millions and hundreds of millions, I realized that they had the same challenges that businesses in the hundreds of thousands or the millions, multi millions still have, just on a different level. But when you look at the math and metrics in all of this, you can find all these great stories that tell you the story of where you're supposed to be going. Once you figure that out, then you just optimize the point. So it's, I guess I Don't know if I was born with this or it just kind of, you know, it certainly the skill grew over, over time, but I enjoy doing it because to me it's like a treasure hunt. James Kademan [00:05:23]: Sure. Fair. It sounds like you were sent on that trajectory with your dad's business. What type of business did your dad have? Doug Brown [00:05:29]: He had an electric machinery repair company, so industrial machinery, and it was sales and service and you know, so I was constantly around all kinds of different businesses from manufacturing to, I mean, you name it, pretty much we were, we were around anything that had a, like even in an office building, they had a commercial fan or something. We would, you know, we would work on that. So it was a great, wonderful part of my life that, you know, I love doing it. And you know, sometimes when you're a little, little kid, you don't realize some of the things that shape you as you get older. But as I start to look back on things, you know, even my dad ended up in the hospital one time. He had a heart attack and I was 17 years old and I had to run the company for a little while and that was a super learning experience. But I got at certain levels of the books I never got at before, so I was able to kind of look at it. So when he came back, I was like, dad, I think we should do this and this and that. Doug Brown [00:06:33]: And one of the things that was successful in my dad's business was actually raising prices because he hadn't done it in over 10 years. James Kademan [00:06:40]: Oh, wow. Okay. Doug Brown [00:06:41]: Yeah, yeah. So my dad was a brilliant guy. He just wasn't the, he was a guy who knew how to build a business around him, but he didn't know how to build a systematic, functional, you know, business without him being present. James Kademan [00:06:57]: Sure, that's fair. So the inspiration for, I guess growing the business or seeing even that the pricing should be different. Imagine a 17 year old. That's not necessarily something that every 17 year old in the world is going to be aware of or even know that it's a thing, let alone no look at it. Doug Brown [00:07:16]: Well, I mean, Most of the 17 year olds I meet are really smart. They just, they didn't, they weren't around it probably for 14 years. Right. And so, you know, and I, I had, you know, I, I could, I could look and see things that, and spot things that could be monetized a lot of times. So for example, even when I was, I think I was 8 years old and I wanted to, you know,

    1h 12m

  2. JAN 24

    Timeclock Software

    Dean Mathews - On the Clock On Watching Your Numbers: "They just realized that their sister in law who's been working for them for 10 years has been adding 10 hours onto every pay run for the last 10 years." Dean Mathews, CEO of On The Clock, shares his journey as an entrepreneur and the evolution of his timekeeping software. He emphasizes the importance of building a people-centric culture, the challenges of managing hybrid teams, and the significance of customer service in differentiating his business in a crowded market. Dean also discusses the future of On The Clock, including plans to integrate HR solutions and enhance their payroll services. Visit Dean at: https://ontheclock.com   Podcast Overview: 00:00 Introduction to On the Clock and Dean Mathews 02:55 The Journey of a Serial Entrepreneur 05:56 Transitioning Technology: Moving to Modern Solutions 08:48 Building a People-Centric Culture 11:59 Career Advancement in Small Teams 14:55 Understanding Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) 17:48 The Importance of Culture in Modern Workplaces 20:57 Navigating Hybrid Work Environments 23:53 Fostering Team Interactions and Communication 26:58 Management Style and Learning from Experience 29:51 Insights from 'Scaling' by Claire Hughes Johnson 31:18 Effective Communication and Team Dynamics 33:01 Navigating a Crowded Market 35:58 Customer Service Excellence 41:06 The Importance of Payroll Solutions 46:48 Common Mistakes in Timekeeping and Payroll 51:46 Proactive Business Management Sponsors: Live Video chat with our customers here with LiveSwitch: https://join.liveswitch.com/gfj3m6hnmguz Some videos have been recorded with Riverside: https://www.riverside.fm/?utm_campaign=campaign_5&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=rewardful&via=james-kademan Podcast Transcription: Dean Mathews [00:00:00]: Tracking payroll, all of those things are very complicated things to do. One of the most common mistakes we see people do is they try to do it themselves, like with a spreadsheet. If your business grows and you end up, you know, like Most businesses do, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 20 people, and you're still trying to use spreadsheets and not use a system that ends up in a really bad place. You don't have audit logs for traffic, you know, for, for, for history. You don't have compliance, you know, you don't have transparency a lot of times. So you lac of these modern features where, you know, you choose a system like us and like everything's right here in your phone. That's probably the biggest mistake is they're either choosing the wrong system, not choosing a system at all, or they're trying to like, leverage a spreadsheet or a word doc or a Google Doc to run their business. And that, that never turns out well. James Kademan [00:00:54]: You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found in the podcast link found@drawincustomers.com we are locally underwritten by the bank of Sun Prairie Calls On Call, Extraordinary Answering Service as well as the Bold Business book. And today we're welcoming Slash, preparing to learn from Dean Matthews from On the Clock. So, Dean, how is it going today? Dean Mathews [00:01:21]: It is going wonderful, James. Thank you so much for having me. I can't wait to chat with you. James Kademan [00:01:26]: Yeah, you know, I'm excited to talk to you for a few reasons. One, you've been in business seemingly forever, so that's. Dean Mathews [00:01:33]: Yeah. James Kademan [00:01:34]: And the other is you seem to be pretty people centric, which is great, and I'm gonna dare say rare. And on top of that, you run a service, the timekeeping system, I guess that we. My gosh, when I was looking for a timekeeping system forever ago, it was bizarre to me how few options I found that actually could do all of the things. Dean Mathews [00:01:59]: Yeah. James Kademan [00:01:59]: And I'm like, I'm not asking for a rocket ship to the moon or anything. I'm just literally asking to keep track of employees hours. That's all I want. Dean Mathews [00:02:06]: Yeah. James Kademan [00:02:07]: So how about you? Let's just start from the very beginning, right back at the dawn of time. Dean Mathews [00:02:11]: Dawn of time. James Kademan [00:02:12]: When did you get started with? On the clock? Dean Mathews [00:02:14]: Yeah. So I'll give you the quick rundown. So I'm kind of a, I guess you call it a quote unquote, serial entrepreneur, if you will. Quite A few startups, businesses, side projects, passion projects throughout the years. But with on the Clock back In like the mid 2000 era, I had several projects, passion projects going on. On the Clock was one of them. I'm always looking for problems that I can solve. So this is the kitchen story or the kitchen table story. Dean Mathews [00:02:49]: This was late 2003 ish. So like 20 some years ago now, sitting at the kitchen table, looking through forums, business forums, remember those business, small business accounting forums. And I saw this trend of all these small business owners and accountants in this forum, just talking. I just looking for something simple, something like you just said, that works well, something that can track my employees time. And I want it online and I want it easy and I want it reliable. That was their two requests. So I was sitting there and I was reading that and I'm like, I'm going to build that for them. So I'm also a software developer or in a former life I was a software developer. Dean Mathews [00:03:34]: So I set out to build it and pretty much within a couple months we actually had on the clock running. It was very simple, very bare bones, but it was up and running. Employees could clock in and clock out, managers and admins could get time for payroll. And it was really just a passion project at that time along with, you know, several others. And kind of fast forward to right around 10ish years ago, it had just been kind of organically growing on its own. Like I said, it was more of a side project. But about that 10ish years ago, Mark, really it started, started getting to the point to where I couldn't ignore it anymore. So decided to go all in with on the Clock and want to just focus on one thing really, really heavily and put all my energy into it instead of half a dozen or a dozen different projects. Dean Mathews [00:04:26]: So focused on that and decided to turn it from a passion project to a real business. Got it into an llc. My brother Mark was also interested in doing some of these things so got him to come on board. And we hired our first employee, Samantha. She's still with us today. She's actually moved up a lot in the tier. She is now product owner. Super proud of her. Dean Mathews [00:04:52]: And so now we're sitting where it's 22 of us total and we serve about 18,000 customers, mostly here in the United States. James Kademan [00:05:00]: Yeah, 18,000. Dean Mathews [00:05:01]: 18,000. Yeah. It's crazy. James Kademan [00:05:04]: Holy cow. Dean Mathews [00:05:04]: That is a. James Kademan [00:05:06]: That's a pool and a half. Dean Mathews [00:05:07]: Yeah, it's a. Yeah, two and a half pools. James Kademan [00:05:10]: So crazy. Dean Mathews [00:05:11]: Yeah, it's kind of crazy when you Step back and look at it and. But you know, it goes to show you, you know, you put your effort and your time and your energy into something and it can pay off, it can turn into something big. James Kademan [00:05:22]: Yeah, yeah, Tell me a story. You were doing software before you said so were your other passion projects software based? Dean Mathews [00:05:30]: Almost all of them were, yes. So built a kind of like an online survey type tool similar to like a survey monkey where you could ask different surveys. Had a database type tool where you could just create a database for anything you wanted to contacts customers, sales online. Started that one, had another payments processing, a business to business payments processing, Ach type solution. Those are two or three of the ones that I started. There was a couple others as well. They kind of, some started, some really took off, some didn't, some just kind of floundered. But yeah, so I always had that entrepreneurial spirit, just wanting to do something big, you know, just make a change, something I could just stand on and, you know, just be happy with. James Kademan [00:06:18]: Yeah, it's interesting, I had another guest on the show, I don't know, fairly recently and he said all we want to do is sell usernames and passwords. So I feel like you're, you're in that world, which is pretty good world to be in. Dean Mathews [00:06:34]: Yeah, yeah. James Kademan [00:06:36]: Tell me a story as far as the back end goes, because programming languages that were popular 20 years ago are not necessarily the same now. So has your platform shifted or had huge rewrites or anything over the course of the past couple decades? Dean Mathews [00:06:52]: Yeah, from a technology standpoint, the technology we wrote it in, you know, 22, three years ago now is an older technology. Right. And it, it still worked, but you really have to keep up with the times. You can't just sit on these older technologies. You know, developers aren't versed in them anymore, they're inefficient. And the new technologies have so much more to offer for our customer experience. So we started a venture about three years ago, ish, where we called it Move and Improve, where we pick off a couple pages, a couple screens at a time and move those over to the new new technology. So now as of the turn of this year, there's just a couple little pieces we're picking up now, but we are going to be 100. Dean Mathews [00:07:41]:

    55 min

  3. JAN 20

    Be a Podcast Guest

    Tom Schwab - Interview Valet On Standing Out: "What's amazing now is AI is indexing all of these. So if you just say, I'm a coach, it's saying, well, do I recommend James or the other million people that identify as a coach?." Podcasts are everywhere these days.  They are the current neato thing to be a guest on, a host of and a listener to. But how do you become a guest on podcasts?  Should you be a podcast guest?  What podcast has the best audience?  What do you do after you have been a guest? Tom Schwab is the founder of Interview Valet, a white glove podcast guest placement service.  Tom explains the ins and outs of podcasts and the value that being on the right podcast can bring to you and your business. Listen as Tom explains the value of podcasts and how to grow your brand by being a guest on them Enjoy! Visit Tom at: https://interviewvalet.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interview_valet/   Podcast Overview: 00:00 Podcast Evolution and Accessibility 07:33 Building Relationships in Marketplace Growth 11:28 "Specificity in Digital Marketing Strategy" 20:37 "Accountability for Server Content" 26:20 "Curiosity and Caution in Interviews" 27:43 "Podcasting Tips for Professionals" 36:49 "Feedback That Changed Everything" 43:06 "Maximizing Engagement Through Feedback" 45:37 "Podcast Guesting Gone Wrong" 53:53 "Scaling Through Systems and Collaboration" 56:48 "Building Trust in Client Pitches" Sponsors: Live Video chat with our customers here with LiveSwitch: https://join.liveswitch.com/gfj3m6hnmguz Some videos have been recorded with Riverside: https://www.riverside.fm/?utm_campaign=campaign_5&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=rewardful&via=james-kademan Podcast Transcription:

    1h 2m

  4. JAN 9

    Why a Virtual CFO May Be Just What You Need

    Jody Grunden - Anders CPA On Working Together: "It's only going to help everybody if we can all learn how to get better and faster." Every business owner needs to watch their money.  You watch it come in, go out and hopefully end up with some leftover to make sure you are doing more than just moving money. But not every business is large enough to justify a full-time chief financial officer.  Which leads to a conundrum, how do you get the talented person to help you with the financial end of your business when you don't have enough financial paperwork for them to poke at full time? Jody Grunden saw this need years ago and has built a virtual CFO business that he then sold to Anders CPA.  Jody discusses what a virtual CFO can do and why it is important. Listen as Jody details how the use of a virtual CFO has helped grow many business.  Plus he details the value of standing out.  In his case, with a Hawaiian shirt. Enjoy! Visit Jody at: https://anderscpa.com/   Podcast Overview: 00:00 "Virtual Beginnings and Success" 03:57 "Next Year Finally Paid Off" 06:50 "Interactive Pricing Strategy Breakdown" 11:40 "Finding Success Beyond Accounting" 12:40 "Pivoting Amid Layoffs and Guilt" 18:45 "Educating for Success, Not Selling" 19:42 "Productizing Services with Subscriptions" 24:58 "Dynamic Forecasting Explained" 26:33 Truck Repair Business Insights 31:20 "Flexible Client Collaboration Process" 35:07 "Building Connections and Growth" 38:29 "Rethinking Strategy for Success" 42:01 "Thought Leadership Eased Hiring" 44:26 "Expanding Connections Beyond Remote Teams" 47:32 "Scaling Processes for Sustainability" Sponsors: Live Video chat with our customers here with LiveSwitch: https://join.liveswitch.com/gfj3m6hnmguz Some videos have been recorded with Riverside: https://www.riverside.fm/?utm_campaign=campaign_5&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=rewardful&via=james-kademan Podcast Transcription: Jody Grundon [00:00:00]: I realized real quick that, you know, hey, I wasn't an accountant, I was an entrepreneur and I just didn't realize it. I didn't enjoy accounting and I still don't today. I don't enjoy accounting, but I love the entrepreneur part of it and growing a business and seeing how successful I can get that business and then even more so helping other people be successful running their business, which is, which is even a bigger joy. James Kademan [00:00:27]: You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found in the podcast link found@drawincustomers.com we are locally interwritten by the bank of Sun Prairie Calls On Call Extraordinary Answering Service as well as the Bold Business Book and Live Switch. Today we are welcoming slash preparing to learn from Jody Grundon of Anders cpa. Which I feel like this is right about the time to start talking taxes. Jody, is that safe to say? Jody Grundon [00:01:00]: I. I guess so. But man, you don't ask me to ask tax questions, that's for sure. James Kademan [00:01:04]: No, so let's just break it down. What is Andrew cpa? Jody Grundon [00:01:09]: Yeah, so Andrew cpa. They're, they're a, one of the largest CPA firms in the nation. They're pretty large. They do a lot of different things, audit, tax. But the, the special that I run is on in what we call the Client Advisory Service Group, which is virtual CFO services. So that's something that, that I founded way back when. It was about 20 some years ago. A lot of CPA firms now you use that type of a service. Jody Grundon [00:01:31]: I actually founded it back, you know, 20 plus years ago. So it's been a great ride. Before it was, before it was even a thing. Yeah, it was one of those, one of those things that there was something called outsourced CFO or outsourced CPA service, which was outsourcing it to a foreign country type of thing. And I'm like, well, that's not what I meant. So I'm trying to figure out how, what can I call it? And I, and so I did. I got the big, the thesaurus, if you remember one of those things. I got one of those things out. Jody Grundon [00:01:55]: I'm like, what could I, what could I name this thing? I thought virtual sounds kind of cool. And, and then my partner's like, well, no one will think you're real. And I'm like, ah, they will. It'll catch on. And back then we had the yellow pages and so we, we did the yellow page Thing didn't really get a whole lot of traction. And then we decided, hey, we're going to go this, do this on the Internet. And so when we did on the Internet, it was kind of cool because nobody else was doing it. So it was one of those things that we are right away number one in the rankings. Jody Grundon [00:02:21]: No, yeah, we. James Kademan [00:02:22]: Back 20 years ago, man, that's. Jody Grundon [00:02:24]: Yeah, yeah. And we have, we, we. We haven't gone far from that. So we're still number one in the rankings today, which is kind of cool. James Kademan [00:02:31]: Be interesting to go back and just visit if you had a time machine or something like that and just visit. What was the Internet like 20 years ago? Jody Grundon [00:02:38]: It was brutal. James Kademan [00:02:39]: No YouTube. I don't even know if Google was around back then. I mean, yeah, totally different world. Jody Grundon [00:02:45]: It was. And it's kind of funny because everybody thought, well, that was. That's a big waste of money. Don't put money in there. Because we, we got out of the yellow page. Yellow page is what accounting firms are always in. Accounting firms, law firms, you name it. You had these big ads, you spent tons of money, and then you just kind of hope people called you. Jody Grundon [00:03:00]: And I didn't have the money back then, so it's like I bootstrapped my own company. So it was one of those things that I just couldn't compete with the big boys. And so the only, only thing we could do is try something different. I thought, hey, this Internet thing sounds great. Let's try it. And yeah. And everybody thought, hey, you're wasting your money. No one's going to call. Jody Grundon [00:03:19]: And the funny part is, nobody called. It took a long time to actually get going and figure it out and get people to realize what virtual CFO even was. It took about, I'd say, probably five to 10 years, really, to. To get a lot of traction for it. James Kademan [00:03:38]: Stick with it for a while. Jody Grundon [00:03:39]: Oh, yeah. It wasn't one of those things. Overnight successes. It was, hey, we started it. And they, they always say, you know, building the plane as it's flying in the air type of thing. That's exactly what we did. It was like, okay, what can we do to make this better? Improve this? And we were not profitable at all for probably eight, eight, nine, ten years of that. It was, it was one of those things. Jody Grundon [00:03:57]: My wife kept asking me, hey, when are we going to do something? You need to get a job? I'm like, no, no, no. Next year's gonna be the perfect year. And then next year coming, there'd be all these obstacles that we we didn't overcome. And then it's like, oh, well, next year will be the best year. And then finally next year ended up being the right year, and it just, it just blew up from there and became super profitable, super high growth. And, you know, we grew it to Gez, probably 10 million bucks or so before we actually sold it to Anders and became part of the, the larger accounting firm. James Kademan [00:04:25]: Gotcha. The irony of the CFO not making money. Jody Grundon [00:04:28]: Right. Yeah, I know. I tell everybody that too. The other irony is I can't, I can't add in my head, oh, wow, you got a CFO that has to use a calculator. Yeah. Which is kind of funny. And, and, and the funny part about that was on my, the very first. So I, I, I speak at a lot of conferences, and the very first conference I was invited to, I was super unprepared. Jody Grundon [00:04:47]: You know, it was one of those things. I just didn't know what to talk about. Here I'm supposed to talk about. Talk to 30 at that time, agency owners and, and teach them how to be profitable and all that kind of stuff. And the guy's like, do not, whatever you do, do not bring a PowerPoint. I'm like, okay, okay, I won't bring a PowerPoint. And I'm thinking, okay, now what do I do? What do I do? And, you know, the funny part about it was my luggage got stuck, got routed to the wrong airport. So I came in. Jody Grundon [00:05:13]: No, no, no luggage. I didn't have anything really to wear other than I had a T shirt. I had shorts and, and, and, and gym. Gym shoes. And I was like, what do I do? And I went to the local mall, bought some stuff, and, and at the time, my credit cards kept getting denied. And I was like, what's going on here? Why are my credit cards getting denied? This is weird. And, and so eventually, I, I, I, I looked across the mall. There was a Tommy Bahama store there. Jody Grundon [00:05:37]: And I thought, oh, that's kind of cool. That's a little different. I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll get some Tommy Bahama stuff, because he, he said, do not be the traditional accountant. I'm like, okay, that's kind of cool. And, but by the time I got, I got done, I was like, the only thing I had left was my debit card, because nothing was working. And so I went to this dinner after the fact and that. And you can imagine, here the finance guy comes in. You know, at that time, I was wearing an Italian Bahama shirt and like, hey, find this guy wearing Italian Bahama shirt. Jody Grundon [00:06:03]: I'm like, hey, I'll get the hors d' oeuvres for 30 business owners here. I'm thinking, this is kind of cool. And I go to pay with my debit card, and guess what? It got denied. I'm like, what the heck?

    51 min

  5. 12/26/2025

    Become a Authority by Becoming an Author

    Henry DeVries - Indie Books International On Marketing With Authority: "The book is more than a calling card. The book is the greatest brochure." There are a few things you can do to make yourself important in the eyes of the people you meet.  One of the best ways is to be the author of a book.  But how do you write and publish a book? Henry DeVries knows that entrepreneurs are good at their thing, but writing and publishing a book can be a daunting and time-consuming task.  So he started Indie Books International to help professionals get their books published and in the hands of the people that will soon be their clients.  This is something no postcard or brochure could ever dream of doing. Listen as Henry explains in detail what it takes to become a published author and how your book can be used as a marketing tool to help you grow your business. Enjoy! Visit Henry at: https://indiebooksintl.com/   Podcast Overview: 00:00 "Why Editing Matters" 03:19 "Nonfiction Books as Business Cards" 08:03 "Don't Cut Corners on Publishing" 10:01 "Authors Question Publisher Practices" 13:52 "How to Get on TV" 19:00 "Expert Publishing and Education" 20:55 "Overcoming Traps to Publish" 25:35 "Rise of Print and Amazon" 28:26 "Books as the Ultimate Brochure" 31:13 "Indie Publishing Support Network" 35:35 Editing and Writing Service Costs 36:52 "Delegation and Leadership Insights" 41:49 "AI in Publishing: Challenges & Risks" Sponsors: Live Video chat with our customers here with LiveSwitch: https://join.liveswitch.com/gfj3m6hnmguz Some videos have been recorded with Riverside: https://www.riverside.fm/?utm_campaign=campaign_5&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=rewardful&via=james-kademan Podcast Transcription: Henry DeVries [00:00:00]: The world changed. There was two parts of the digital revolution that changed the business. One was print on demand publishing where you didn't have to do big print runs to get the cost down. So my first book, you know, first run was 2,500 books. Second run was another 2,500 books. It was called the second printing. The joke is, yeah, my book went to two printings because the first one was blurred, but no. So you would earn extra printings. Henry DeVries [00:00:24]: But with print on demand it's just, just as economical to print one book as the unit price. On the 2500 books. James Kademan [00:00:35]: You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found the podcast link found at drawincustomers.com we are locally underwritten by the Bank of Sun Prairie Calls On Call Extraordinary Answering Service as well as the Bold business book and live switch. Today we're welcoming, slash, preparing to learn from. Let's see here, Henry, I'm going to try to say your last name. Devries. Henry DeVries [00:01:06]: There you go. Henry Devries with the cheese. James Kademan [00:01:10]: I love it. Of Indie Books International. And we're talking books and marketing and all that jazz. So Henry, how is it going today? Henry DeVries [00:01:18]: It is so great. I'm so excited to talk about the virtues of a book marketing with a book that you're proud of. James Kademan [00:01:26]: I love it. I love it. You know, you raise an interesting point here. I just want to give you a really quick anecdote before we run down the road of marketing with your book. I was given a book by someone that they were hustling as something I suppose like a business card. Probably what we'll mention. Henry DeVries [00:01:43]: Sure. James Kademan [00:01:43]: And I had started reading it and it was, it was bad. It was really bad. It's not to say the content itself was bad. I felt like it was very poorly written and not edited at all. So I saw this guy later at a different networking function. I'm like, hey man, your book was interesting. Who did you use for an editor? And he's like, oh yeah, I edit it myself. I don't need to pay someone to edit it. James Kademan [00:02:08]: And I was like, oh, okay, great. Fantastic. Way to go. You can totally tell I didn't say that. Henry DeVries [00:02:15]: James, we have a saying. The world does not need another crappy self published book. James Kademan [00:02:21]: Oh, I love that saying. That's perfect. That's perfect. So let's start with what you got going on, Henry. How long have you been in the book marketing world? Henry DeVries [00:02:32]: Indie Books International. We started on April 1, 2014. I'd been a ghost writer for books for years before that. So officially 11 years publishing over 200 books in that time. James Kademan [00:02:48]: All right, well, that's a fair number that is Any specific genre. Henry DeVries [00:02:55]: Yes. Well, business books. So according to Barnes and noble, there are 16 subcategories of books. And then since we're nonfiction, some of our books fall under self help, or they'll fall under whatever industry the person is in. So it. It. But it tends to be these nonfiction books to help business people find right fit prospects. James Kademan [00:03:19]: Right on. You know, it's interesting you say that. I, I assume as you know, I wrote and published a book, and it was interesting because I use it essentially as a business card. But I had somebody ask me if I ever made money from the book, and I was like, no, no, I would love to be Stephen King or something like that. Where you're making thousands of dollars every month off your book and to not have to fight to find a publisher, that was not the case. So in that non fiction realm, I guess I'm saying that to say I feel like in the non fiction realm, that's more of the case rather than the fiction realm. I don't. Correct me if I'm wrong here. Henry DeVries [00:04:01]: Well, in the nonfiction realm, it's all about marketing with a book. I didn't write the book marketing a book. I did it marketing with a book, meaning it's what happens as a result of the book. And our authors have found they've gotten returns of 400 to 2000% ROI by marketing with a book and a speech. We like to say publishing the book is the starting line. The book is your ticket to ride. It's your ticket to get into the game. James Kademan [00:04:32]: I love. Okay, so essentially what you're saying is the book is a marketing tool. You're not marketing the book, you're marketing with a book. Okay, that's way better. Clarification. Henry DeVries [00:04:42]: One of my authors made a million dollars, and he didn't even care how many books he sold, but he gave away hundreds and hundreds of books. And. And that resulted in clients. Five figure clients. And that he says it adds up to over a million dollars that he got as a result of being the author of that book over and above what he would have made. James Kademan [00:05:07]: I love it. All right, so let's dig into why someone would want to market with a book rather than throwing ads on the Internet or a big billboard or cold calling or something of that nature. Henry DeVries [00:05:18]: Well, because you want to be seen as the authority in your Space for a certain group of people who have a certain problem. You're the authority and you can't spell authority without the word author. So authors are respected because of the research they've done, the people they've talked to and the results that they share. And then that attracts people especially right fit prospects to them. And they're not chasing the prospects. It's like a magnet that's attracting the prospects to them. James Kademan [00:05:51]: I love it. You mentioned self publishing. Is that typically where you're steering people to or what you're steering people to do? Henry DeVries [00:05:59]: Oh no, we call it self publishing, the S word. Even if you do it, don't ever say your book was self published because that has a stigma to it. It's like what crazy old grandpas do? You indie publish your book. You might cobble together a team to help you indie publish the book. The person in your example, he missed a big player at it. An editor. And there's different types of editors. I'm a developmental editor. Henry DeVries [00:06:26]: I help people develop a manuscript, an idea how it would play in the marketplace, how to bake marketing into it. But you also need line editors, people who make sure that you don't use the wrong word or the styles right, or a typo. James, I'll tell you, you triggered my all time worst story of somebody who came up to me, was so proud of their book and he handed me his book and he said, what do you think? And on the COVID it said forward F O R W A R D by this name. Well, it's actually F O R E. W O R D is a forward, a word that comes first in a book. So he had this major glaring typo on the COVID of his book. James Kademan [00:07:16]: Oh no. Henry DeVries [00:07:17]: And he said, well, what do you think? I said, well, I've got to point out you have this glaring typo on the COVID of your book. Oh, oh, I printed 5,000 copies. What should I do? And I said Fahrenheit 451. If you know science fiction and Ray Bradbury, that's the temperature books burn at. Fahrenheit 451. Famous science fiction book. So I was telling him to burn 5,000 books, which he did. Because I said I don't even want you to give these away or donate them to some thrift store because every time somebody sees your name and this book and that typo, it's bringing you down in the market. Henry DeVries [00:08:03]: The same thing with a crappy self published book where they said, oh, you know, I can do it cheap. I said, okay, well, let's say you have a big speech and people have paid you $5,000 to come speak to them, and you got to wear something. Are you going to go to Goodwill and see if somebody donated something good that week? Or, you know, maybe there's an Armani suit there,

    46 min

  6. 12/19/2025

    Spanish Immersion Daycare and Preschool

    Heather Reekie - Casa de Corazón On Working With the SBA: "Getting the SBA loan was literally the hardest thing I've ever done. And I've given birth twice, naturally." We all wish we were smarter.  As we get older, it becomes more difficult to learn new things. What if children could learn new things while they have a developing brain that can handle faster education.  What if you could immerse a child into an environment that helps children learn another language, eat healthy and fresh food and do it all with peers that are learning and playing alongside you?  It is with questions like these that Casa de Corazón got started. Heather Reekie is the owner of the Madison, Wisconsin based Casa de Corazón.  She shares her inspiring journey from speech and language pathologist to entrepreneur, detailing the transformation of an old translation office into a thriving early childhood center focused on nurturing bilingual minds and compassionate hearts. She highlights Casa de Corazón's unique approach, including their in-house app for real-time parent updates, commitment to organic meals and sustainable practices, and the importance of intercultural learning. Heather details the challenges of launching a business, the joys of fostering a strong community, and the impact of quality early education. Listen as Heather gives more insights into how passion and purpose can create lasting change, one child at a time. Enjoy! Visit Heather at: https://casaearlylearning.com/location/madison-wi/ https://www.instagram.com/casa.madison.wi/   Podcast Overview: 00:00 "Bilingual Boost at Casa" 06:54 "Acquiring a Language-Focused Property" 16:20 "Connected to Franchise Core Values" 17:17 "Eco-Friendly Childcare Practices" 23:33 Franchisee Frustration with Franchisors 29:09 "Teachers Genuinely Care Deeply" 33:39 "Raising Thriving, Empathetic Early Learners" 42:15 Playground Requirements and Safety Standards 44:48 "Overcoming Leadership and Loan Challenges" 53:19 "Staff Excellence and Parent Resources" 59:12 Infant Curriculum and Monthly Themes 01:02:37 Storm Shelter and Flags Display 01:07:09 "Elevator and Furnace Challenges" Sponsors: Live Video chat with our customers here with LiveSwitch: https://join.liveswitch.com/gfj3m6hnmguz Some videos have been recorded with Riverside: https://www.riverside.fm/?utm_campaign=campaign_5&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=rewardful&via=james-kademan Podcast Transcription: Heather Reekie [00:00:00]: But the Casa app is special to the Casa brand and it's real time updates on what your child is doing throughout the day, including photos. So that's throughout the day innovation. Yep, yep. And so you know, like no notates when the child falls asleep for rest time or what they, you know, how much of the lunch they ate and you know when they used the bathroom or had a diaper change and that kind of thing. James Kademan [00:00:23]: Holy cow. So that's cool. Heather Reekie [00:00:26]: It's informative and just fun to interact with as well. James Kademan [00:00:35]: You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found on the podcast link found drawincustomers.com we are locally underwritten by the bank of Sun Prairie and today we're welcoming slash preparing to learn from Heather Ricci of I'm going to destroy this. But I don't mean to Casa de Corazón remotely close Casa de Corazón and I just learned is that House of Hearts. Heather Reekie [00:01:05]: House of Hearts. House of Love. James Kademan [00:01:07]: All right, very cool. So let's go on. What do you do, Heather? Heather Reekie [00:01:12]: Well, so I'm the owner operator of Casa de Corazon Madison, which is a franchise from the corporate offices which are in Minnesota and we opened almost exactly two years ago, November 15th of 2023. James Kademan [00:01:28]: Nice. Heather Reekie [00:01:28]: And so I am trying to keep. James Kademan [00:01:31]: Running the place and this place, I gotta say, this place is huge. I expected a little daycare and this is. We're in two story building. Heather Reekie [00:01:41]: Yes. James Kademan [00:01:42]: In what I would consider to be the southern heart of Madison. So we get the belt line right here and all that. So I got a lot of questions for you, so let's just knock it out first. So Heather, tell me about the Spanish immersion. Heather Reekie [00:01:54]: So that's the icing on the cake of just a really high quality childcare and preschool situation. Here at Casa de Corazón, Spanish immersion is help helping grow the synapses in the children's brain. So even if you don't go on to a bilingual or Spanish immersion elementary school after attending casa, you will have reaped the benefits of growing your brain cells by becoming bilingual or learning a second or sometimes in some cases a third language. Because what it does is it gives you multiple words for the same vocabulary and the same sentence structure. And all you're just learning all of these ways to think about language. It increases your empathy, it increases your ability to start talking at a younger age and communicate your thoughts and feelings. One mom told me about her two children who attend here. They're siblings and they speak in Spanish when they're playing together at home. James Kademan [00:03:00]: It's oh nice. Heather Reekie [00:03:01]: Sounds really adorable. And then they're code switching when they're talking to her because they know that she's not fluent in Spanish like they are and so they'll switch to English to talk to. James Kademan [00:03:10]: I'm just imagining a pair of kids that know a language that the parents don't. I don't know if it's good or bad. Heather Reekie [00:03:14]: Yeah, it could be fun. James Kademan [00:03:16]: Interesting. So the, the age. I guess I never asked you that. What are the ages that attend here? Heather Reekie [00:03:23]: We are licensed to provide care for children starting at six weeks and then up through school age. So we have had some school age children attend on days off of school school, you know, old older siblings a lot of times and also in the summer when they're not in public school or the school year school and but technically the franchise caters to birth through four year old kindergarten. James Kademan [00:03:52]: Okay. Heather Reekie [00:03:52]: Right before they would go to 5 year old kindergarten in an elementary school. James Kademan [00:03:57]: Tell me. So the daycare is way back when I had to deal with daycares and stuff like that when I had a kid. I shouldn't say I did, my wife did. I didn't have anything to do with it, but I learned from other people that there's wait lists and all that other kind of stuff. Where are you guys at with the wait list? Or is there a wait list or that whole people can't find daycare anywhere? Is that still a thing? Heather Reekie [00:04:19]: It can be, yes. Because we're still Fairly new at 2 years old, we have been able to enroll children for their desired start date. So we do have a wait list. It's through the branded CASA app it's called. And we keep track of families based on when they tour and when they want to enroll their child. And for certain ages, the younger the child wants to be enrolled, those are our smaller classrooms with lower teacher to student ratios. So those ones fill up more quickly. And then because we're still like the children who started with us at a young age haven't grown into be a three year old and able to attend or be enrolled in one of our older age level classrooms where the ratios increase so those classrooms are not full. Heather Reekie [00:05:20]: And we are sitting in one of our our 11th classroom which we haven't opened yet. We've opened the other 10, but this is our pre K room. The franchise calls it pre K which is essentially a four year old kindergarten classroom because we are currently combining the three And a half year olds and four year olds together. James Kademan [00:05:39]: Okay. Heather Reekie [00:05:40]: In our two preschool B classrooms. So there's a little multi age learning going on right now and so we have more capacity to enroll those older children right now. James Kademan [00:05:54]: Well, I imagine if somebody starts with you at birth or early, whatever, six weeks that they'll go with you through until they get to school age, is. Heather Reekie [00:06:03]: That safe to say that is the, the most beneficial way to benefit from a Spanish immersion environment. James Kademan [00:06:10]: Yeah. Heather Reekie [00:06:11]: And just the high quality education and the loving teachers. Yeah. Yes. That is the, the corporate idea is that the children would start with us, you know, as soon as they find out about us whether their babies are a little bit older and then. Yes. Stay through that four year old year and then possibly go to kindergarten when they're five or six. James Kademan [00:06:32]: That's cool. That's super cool. They'll find out about you on a podcast. So it's all good. Tell me, how did you end up. A couple years ago you opened this place. So let's first talk about location. So to me this is pretty, I mean you can get to this place anywhere pretty easily. James Kademan [00:06:51]: So how did you end up in this building? Heather Reekie [00:06:54]: I had hired a broker to find a location and there just weren't a lot that were in a price range that I could afford. And so we looked at several options but kept coming back to this. And this used to be Geo Co. Geo Group, which did translations in all different languages for like manuals and, and auditory, verbal, you know, and written translations. I'm sure they did way more than that.

    1h 8m

  7. 12/12/2025

    Marry Money and Opportunity with Real Estate

    Mike Zlotnik - Tempo Funding On Investment Advice: "At the end of the day the best risk mitigation strategy is prudent diversification." Investing in real estate is often thought to be a great place to grow your wealth.  But often investors have other things going on and they don't want to deal with tenants, paperwork, searching out properties and all of the headaches that come with doing your own real estate investing. What if there were a way to invest in real estate in other ways?  Investing in the loans other people have on real estate, or investing with a group and getting into large commercial properties with leases that run decades long? Mike Zlotnik started Tempo Funding to help investors grow their money with real estate, without needing to get their hands dirty.  He shares his journey in the tech world to discovering the power of passive real estate investing, buying his first apartment in Brooklyn back in 2000, and growing into large-scale commercial projects like industrial facilities and open-air shopping centers. He explains Tempo Funding’s focus on marrying “money and opportunity,” helping individuals, often those who have exited businesses or cashed in on appreciated assets, find reliable income streams backed by real estate. Listen as Mike explains his real estate investing strategies and how they may work for you. Enjoy! Visit Mike at: https://tempofunding.com/ https://www.instagram.com/tempofunding/   Podcast Overview: 00:00 "Triple Net Leasing Explained" 03:50 "Predictable Returns in CRE Investments" 08:17 "Long-Term Commercial Lease Structures" 10:46 Ground Leases and Property Ownership 13:36 Real Estate Tax Implications Simplified 19:31 Deploying Capital for Investments 21:29 Quarterly Distribution Expectations Explained 26:18 "Low Rates, Inflation, and Stimulus" 27:41 "Understanding Capitalization Rates" 32:22 Moore's Law and AI Progress 35:29 Interest Rates and Real Estate Trends 37:13 Industrial Investment: Focus on Longevity 40:49 "Branch Closures and Lease Management" 44:39 "From Tech Exec to Real Estate" 49:21 "Real Estate Value Through Leasing" 50:00 "Value-Add Real Estate Strategies" 54:07 "Strategic Capital for Specialists" Sponsors: Live Video chat with our customers here with LiveSwitch: https://join.liveswitch.com/gfj3m6hnmguz Some videos have been recorded with Riverside: https://www.riverside.fm/?utm_campaign=campaign_5&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=rewardful&via=james-kademan Podcast Transcription: Mike Zlotnik [00:00:00]: I had a successful career, had some exits. I was doing well, but I was a little burned out. I spent almost 15 years in technology. I had great friends. I liked it. Technology. Felt like I wanted something that I really didn't have to work all the time, something that I can make investment decisions and the money could work for me. So I discovered real estate passively in year 2000, buying my first apartment in Brooklyn. Mike Zlotnik [00:00:25]: And then I continued to buy more and passively. James Kademan [00:00:33]: You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found in podcast link found at https//:drawincustomers.com We are locally underwritten by the Bank of Sun Prairie, Calls On Call Extraordinary Answering Service as well as the Bold Business Book. And today we're welcoming Slash, preparing to learn from Mike Zlotnick of Temple Funding. That's TF Management Group. Is that safe to say, Mike? Mike Zlotnik [00:01:01]: Yeah, yeah, but the easier way, people call me Big Mike. I am six four. So Big Mike. James Kademan [00:01:05]: Well, you can't tell on the screen, so. All right, that is a. That's a Big Mike. Big Mike, indeed. So, Big Mike, what is Tempo funding? Mike Zlotnik [00:01:15]: We are the best way to describe Tempo funding. We marry money and opportunity. We are a platform for folks with capital to invest, typically in real estate, kind of. I don't want to call myself exactly one trick pony, but I am mostly one trick pony. It's real estate. We have a team, we have organization that focuses real estate projects, industrial, open air shopping, multifamily, et cetera. James Kademan [00:01:42]: Okay. Mike Zlotnik [00:01:42]: And then we have folks with capital who sold businesses, they've sold highly appreciated stock, they sold bitcoin, whatever, they made their money and then now they're looking for steady, predictable income. And that's what we try to bring them. That's kind of what we do for many, many years. James Kademan [00:02:01]: You mentioned steady predictable income. And can you elaborate on that? Because sometimes in the real estate world that's not always the case. Mike Zlotnik [00:02:08]: Yeah, so today the world's changed quite a bit and we really gravitated towards predictability. I literally have an article that I wrote and a video comparing high IRRs versus predictability. Wide majority of people, especially with monetary event where they've got significant lump sum, they're looking for predictability. So what is predictability? So normally it means the assets themselves have a great engine, how they generate predictable income. Take an example, triple net industrial. This is just a simple way to explain. It's right before the call we were talking about made in China versus made in America. Well, there's a renaissance now to build in America. Mike Zlotnik [00:02:50]: Made in America and industrial production in America is welcome. So quite often there are companies that manufacture here and the real estate underneath it gets sold by the owner of the business. They sell the real estate, lease back and stay in that property. So where does predictability come from? Well, that business has been there for 60 years. They sell real estate, they use capital for further investment or to pay their parent company and then it's a mission critical property. And to make long story short, they're there, they have a 20, 25 year lease and it's triple net, meaning that all the expenses, taxes, insurance, everything else is covered by the tenant. So as a landlord you collect rent and every year it goes up between 2 to 3%. So you have high predictability of outcome simply because it's contractually guaranteed with a credit quality tenant with long term lease, with rent escalation clauses, with triple net structure. Mike Zlotnik [00:03:50]: So you're collecting this, you're an equity investor, but you're collecting it like a bond. You get your coupon today, this year. So what does that coupon look like? For example, year one you could start with 7%, maybe even higher. And year two goes up, and year three, it goes up. So it begins to look like a predictable investment because it's so contractually built to be predictable. So you know, initial cash flow, you know, year two cash flow, year three, year four, year five. And then that increased NOI drives forced appreciation. Because in commercial real estate, the price of the asset is a function of net operating income. Mike Zlotnik [00:04:24]: You hear these fancy terms, cap rates. All the cap rates describe is what do you pay per dollar of income. The lower the cap rate, the higher the price per dollar of income. So as interest rates obviously impact cap rates, but in general, the structure itself grows. Niy, if interest rates don't do anything, they stay flat. You're still growing the value of the asset because the NOI is growing. That's a predictable structure. You see these structures in real estate quite a bit. Mike Zlotnik [00:04:50]: And I'll shut up for a second, let you chime in more questions because I can talk on this probably for hours. James Kademan [00:04:55]: No, that's awesome. That's awesome. It's interesting you mentioned real estate that's essentially large scale commercial. It sounds like you're talking manufacturing. Yes, this isn't just the small mom. Mike Zlotnik [00:05:06]: And pop house, it is a manufacturing facility quite often gets bought for $25 million. There are of course bigger projects, but the sweet spot is anywhere from, you know, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, $30 million small manufacturing. I'm not talking about AI data centers that are getting built for a billion dollars, not, not for that. James Kademan [00:05:29]: Okay. I guess, I think as you're talking here, I'm thinking south of me on the north way north of Chicago is Belvedere, Illinois, which has a car manufacturing plant that I think since I've been driving to and from Chicago every once in a while, I want to say that thing has changed hands four or five times. And that thing, that property, I don't know if it's necessarily one building, but that complex, it's probably the size of a small city. Sorry, it sounds like you're getting into stuff that big. Mike Zlotnik [00:06:04]: Not that big, but an example, we do have an asset in New Castle, Indiana, again, Midwest. And it's a, you know, it's called $25 million asset. It is a multi acre property and it produces stainless steel and it's been in that business and that location over 60 years. So that kind of a facility. All right, not a small city, but for that local town, it's a significant manufacturer and industrial facility. James Kademan [00:06:32]: Oh, I bet it's huge. And for something like that. Do you. I mentioned the equipment goes with the building. Just because it took so much to get that equipment in there, it's like an old pool table. To get it out is a big deal. Mike Zlotnik [00:06:45]: They end not moving so effectively you own real estate as an investor, but they've made so many tenant improvements themselves over the years for their own business, plus all the equipment, everything else. They're going to stay there, they're going to continue to.

    1h 1m

  8. 12/05/2025

    The Business of Micro Greens

    Jessi Ricci  - New Life Greens On Being Present: "It's definitely life changing when you put your phone down for a meal." In the mad rush that is our world, we often take for granted some important things.  Some of those things are nutrition, flavor, time spent with friends enjoying a great meal.  Celebrating the gift of life that we have instead of just rushing through it. Jessi Ricci started New Life Greens, partly as a way to help people enjoy life.  In the food they eat and the people they share the experience with.  At only 19 years old, she is already a successful entrepreneur. In this inspiring conversation, Jessi Ricci opens up about how her dream of becoming an environmental science teacher at UW Madison took an unexpected detour when a part-time job at an aquaponic farm introduced her to the world of microgreens. From those first nervous meetings with chefs, armed with living trays of fresh greens, to building relationships with supportive mentors and her own family, Jessi Ricci reveals how authenticity, faith, and hustle fueled her success. Listen as Jessi details what she has learned and how she has made New Life Greens a success. Enjoy! Visit Jessi at: https://www.newlifegreensco.com/   Podcast Overview: 00:00 "Microgreens: Nutrient-Dense Seedlings" 06:43 "Helping Mike Sell Microgreens" 14:19 "Choosing Business Over College" 16:58 "Defying Expectations as a Woman" 23:29 "Smooth LLC Transition Thanks Mike" 28:12 "Back Door Delivery Reflections" 35:57 "Grateful for Restaurant Connections" 40:55 "Living an Unexpected Dream" 45:45 "Intentional Dining and Presence" 49:51 "Local Restaurants Embrace Teen's Microgreens" 54:07 Blind Tasting Microgreens Experience 01:02:04 "New Life Through Faith & Food" Sponsors: Live Video chat with our customers here with LiveSwitch: https://join.liveswitch.com/gfj3m6hnmguz Some videos have been recorded with Riverside: https://www.riverside.fm/?utm_campaign=campaign_5&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=rewardful&via=james-kademan Podcast Transcription: Jessi Ricci [00:00:00]: And I, like, came in with plants for them, like an alive plant and a cut plant. And I really do not feel like I'm pushy. I just really believe in my product, and I think it speaks for itself. Like, I don't need to talk to them. I can leave them these microgreens, and they speak for themselves. So I'll come in. Jessi Ricci [00:00:19]: And bring my price sheets and everything and a live tray of greens. Like an alive plant of greens, some cut product and. And talk to them. Just show it to them, have them eat it. And they're like, whoa, this is so flavorful. James Kademan [00:00:36]: You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found in the podcast link found at drawincustomers.com we are locally underwritten by the bank of Sun Prairie and today we are welcoming slash, preparing to learn from Jessi Ricci of New Life Greens. So, Jessi, how is it going today? Jessi Ricci [00:01:00]: I am doing great. How are you? James Kademan [00:01:02]: I am doing well. I'm in green. Jessi Ricci [00:01:04]: I know. I love that you're in green. I always wear green. James Kademan [00:01:07]: So you really. Jessi Ricci [00:01:08]: Yep. James Kademan [00:01:09]: That's cool. Is nature of the business. Right. Jessi Ricci [00:01:10]: But I love that you're in green, too. James Kademan [00:01:11]: Oh, thank you. Tell us the story. What is New Life Greens? Jessi Ricci [00:01:14]: Yeah. So New Life Greens is a microgreens farm based in Verona, Wisconsin, and we distribute just to the greater Madison area. And we focus on distribution to chefs, which is what kind of sets us apart. We grow specialty microgreens with chefs in mind. James Kademan [00:01:32]: All right, now I'm going to play dumb. Jessi Ricci [00:01:34]: Yeah. James Kademan [00:01:35]: Or maybe I am. Whatever. What is a microgreen? Jessi Ricci [00:01:38]: That's not dumb. I did not know what a microgreen before I started my business. So you. James Kademan [00:01:44]: Did you say when you started your business? Jessi Ricci [00:01:45]: No, before. I did not know before I started my business. James Kademan [00:01:49]: All right. Jessi Ricci [00:01:51]: Yeah. I still don't know. James Kademan [00:01:53]: These things just ship up and I sell them and. What? Jessi Ricci [00:01:56]: Yeah, yeah. The textbook definition of a microgreen is that it is a young seedling of an edible flower, vegetable or herb. So if you. Do you have a garden? James Kademan [00:02:08]: I'm going to say yes. But I mean, it's. Jessi Ricci [00:02:11]: Do you start your own plant starts or no, it's fine if you don't. James Kademan [00:02:15]: Tomatoes, you do Okay. I grow things that are very easy to grow. We're talking rhubarb, tomatoes, cucumbers, stuff that you could probably light the entire world on fire and they would still grow. Jessi Ricci [00:02:25]: Yes. James Kademan [00:02:26]: That's what my skill set is. Jessi Ricci [00:02:28]: It's funny that that's the vegetable that you said, because tomatoes are part of the nightshade family, so they actually are deadly in microgreen form. James Kademan [00:02:35]: Really? Jessi Ricci [00:02:36]: Yes, because they are. They like. Well, it's a whole thing. But basically, if you think of your garden and your plant starts, if you're starting like a pea pod or a cantaloupe or what's another one? Radishes, that little start, that's a couple inches, it's what is what is technically classified as a microgreen, just so it' easier to, like, envision. Usually they're like the size of a blade of grass. And since they are microgreen and they're harvested before they actually produce fruits and before they run out of nutrients in their seed and start using from the soil, they are extremely nutrient dense. So that's kind of the appeal from the consumer. But chefs really don't care about the nutrition. Jessi Ricci [00:03:15]: They just care that they are really beautiful. They're very colorful and flavorful. So they're a great way to garnish. So a lot of high end restaurants will garnish their dishes with them. But I do partner with some restaurants, like Settled Down Tavern, who puts it in a burger, or Youngblood who puts it on a hot dog. But typically they're used as more of like a fancy garnish. James Kademan [00:03:34]: All right. Jessi Ricci [00:03:35]: Yeah. James Kademan [00:03:35]: So how do you get into the microgreen business? Jessi Ricci [00:03:38]: Yeah, you know, I was trying to think of. I knew you probably would ask this, so I was trying to think of my answer for this, and it's really confusing. I mean, if you look back, because I started my business in high school. I'm 19 right now. So if you look back back in your high school, I'm sure, you know, it's totally a blur. And even though it was just a few years, for me, high school was totally a blur. I started my business kind of by accident in a way, actually. So all of high school, I always dreamed to go to UW Madison, be an environmental science teacher, or go to UW Madison. Jessi Ricci [00:04:15]: I said, go to UW Madison, be an environmental science teacher, be in the band. And so my whole high school was just. My whole high school career was filled with trying to accomplish that dream. So I was 4.0 student. I joined all the clubs. I was in band. I joined a sport just to make my application look better. And kind of like the final seal of that was me applying to be a youth apprentice my senior year to make my college application look better, which I did not go to college. Jessi Ricci [00:04:41]: I Don't know if you. I did. I would be in college right now. I would be in class right now. So I'm not there. Jessi Ricci [00:04:50]: Yeah. So everything I did was with that goal in mind. And the job in which I started my business out of was literally. I got the job because I wanted my application to look better. So I got a job at an aquaponic farm in Paoli, Wisconsin, which is definitely the up and booming little area near Madison, at Clean Fresh Food. And they provided an array of products to restaurants. When I started working for them, they only had one restaurant client, but it filled up, like, a third of their capacity. And so I started working there, and I was thinking, you know, this is kind of. Jessi Ricci [00:05:24]: They grow all year round, which is really environmentally friendly. So I was thinking, this will look so good on my application for UW Madison. I'm gonna be a part of this farm who has really great values. And I thought it would really set me apart. Little did I know. I mean, it set me apart so much that I'm not going there. Jessi Ricci [00:05:43]: Yeah. So this farm was the hub for my business. The owner of the farm, Mike Knight, helped me incubate my business. It all started out just with me. My dad always raised me to have, like, a strong work ethic, and so there wasn't that much work for me to do at the farm. There was one other. I had one other co worker and me, and it was just us two, and he worked in the mornings, and I worked, like, at the end of the school day, and so I never saw him. So I would show up to the greenhouse, unlock the door, and I was all alone, and I would just kind of find things to do, like organize or do whatever. Jessi Ricci [00:06:20]: But my dad, like, just knowing him, I could never sit down. I, like, when I was working, I was working, and I didn't have anyone watching over me, so. So I could have done whatever, but this, like, strong work ethic of mine ended up with me reaching out to the owner. And, I mean, I. I love this guy. He is like my business mentor. He's an amazing guy.

    1h 6m

  9. 11/28/2025

    Fed Up Foods

    Carrie Stevens  - Fed Up Foods On the Knowing What it Takes to be Successful: "When you're setting up your business, you want to make it convenient for the customer, but also it needs to be convenient for us because if we can't maintain it then we're going to get burnt out and we can't sustain it." Thousands of pounds of produce goes to waste every year.  This is due to many things, often having nothing to do with the actual taste or health of the produce.  Sometimes it just isn't pretty enough.  So what can be done with all of this good food that should be consumed? Carrie Stevens has a farm, butchers animals to sell and recently purchased the business named, Fed Up Foods.  This is a business that takes less than pretty food and turns it into beautiful sauces, relishes and pickled produce. Fed Up Foods got its start in the local farmers markets, thanks to Wisconsin's pickle law. Carrie Stevens is building on that foundation to bring locally sourced, shelf-stable products—ranging from pickle relish and maple ginger beets to cranberry applesauce—to more retail shelves and customers. Discover the surprising details behind what it takes to buy and run a canned goods business, from PH testing and food safety to sourcing "imperfect" produce and managing labels and inspections. Listen as Carrie explains her journey and what she has learned from building her sustainable food businesses. Enjoy! Visit Carrie at:https://www.fedupfoodswi.com/   Podcast Overview: 00:00 Woman-Owned Artisanal Canned Goods 03:41 Pickle Business Journey and Growth 09:04 Pasture Management and Livestock Rotation 10:44 Horseback Observation Resolves Calf Issues 13:23 Wisconsin Food Finance Support 17:00 "Work to Eat Philosophy" 21:21 Pickling Process and Variations 22:58 "Imperfect Produce Solutions" 27:59 "Pickled Beets Worth the Effort" 30:04 "Lard Pigs, Not Lean" 32:04 "Food Business Quality Challenges" 35:50 "Product Testing & Process Authority" 40:27 Scaling Production with Co-Packer 43:41 Cost-Effective Labeling Challenges 46:33 Frozen Meat Storage Advice 50:26 "Balancing Business and Convenience" 53:47 Cranberries: Creative Uses and Recipes 55:03 "Podcast, Support, Share Sauce" Podcast Transcription: Carrie Stevens [00:00:00]: And I said, hey, why don't you try the cranberry sauce in there? Because, you know, muddled cherries kind of look like cranberries in the cranberry sauce. And I picked them up just that day from the Mr. Ayan Rousch from Roush Century Farms in central Wisconsin. He gave me a nice little tour of his cranberry farm. Organic cranberries. Fantastic. James Kademan [00:00:20]: Sounds like another podcast guest. Yeah. Yes. Carrie Stevens [00:00:22]: So, yeah, just a little cranberry sauce in your old fashioned. James Kademan [00:00:27]: How about that? Carrie Stevens [00:00:27]: Make it the rest of the way however you like, your favorite way. James Kademan [00:00:30]: Foreign. Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found in the podcast link fundedrawincustomers.com we are locally underwritten by the bank of Sun Prairie and today we're welcoming slash preparing to learn from Carrie Stevens of Fed Up Foods. Carrie, I'm so freaking excited. We're talking about food, which is always good. Carrie Stevens [00:01:00]: Always good. James Kademan [00:01:01]: We're talking about pickles, which is always good. Carrie Stevens [00:01:02]: Absolutely. James Kademan [00:01:03]: And we're talking business. So I feel like we got the trifecta here. Carrie Stevens [00:01:06]: Yeah, absolutely. James Kademan [00:01:07]: How's it going today? Carrie Stevens [00:01:08]: Good, good. James Kademan [00:01:09]: All right, tell us the story. What is Fed Up Foods? Carrie Stevens [00:01:12]: So Fed Up Foods is a woman owned Wisconsin based artisanal canned goods company. So I purchased the business this past August. So I'm fairly new to it. However, it has been around for about five years. So it was started by a woman in central Wisconsin and her, her background, she was a produce buyer at the food co op and, and kind of different roles like that, very involved in the farmer's market and she saw a lot of produce going to waste and that was bothersome to her. Well, you know, and if you, we also own a farm, I'll talk about that more. But for a while I was getting produce from the grocery store, feeding it to our animals when it's, you know, there's a lot of beautiful produce, but you know, what happens to that produce after they can't sell it anymore. James Kademan [00:02:03]: So you would get the stuff that was blem essentially or just didn't look pretty. Carrie Stevens [00:02:07]: Yeah, or it was too, you know, I had been there for a couple weeks and it was okay, it was going mushy or whatever. James Kademan [00:02:14]: Pigs like it, humans don't love it. Carrie Stevens [00:02:15]: Right, all right. Yeah. And humans go, so, so anyways, what do you do with that, that produce as it's going bad or almost going bad and it's not selling? So the previous owner had started with Doing some home canning, home pickling. And in Wisconsin there's a pickle bill. So you can pickle at home and sell at farmers markets up to a certain dollar limit. James Kademan [00:02:40]: That's fairly new, right? Carrie Stevens [00:02:42]: You know, I don't know the, the history of it. James Kademan [00:02:44]: Okay. I mean last 10 years or something like that, I feel maybe, maybe. Carrie Stevens [00:02:49]: And then there's like there's the cottage baker law too. So that's a different one. Bakers, they can just bake in their house and sell. James Kademan [00:02:56]: Is there a limit like you can't for bakers? Carrie Stevens [00:02:58]: No, I don't, I, I do not believe so. But don't quote me on that. James Kademan [00:03:01]: Okay? Carrie Stevens [00:03:02]: Contact your lawyer for that. All right, fair. But for picklers canners there is a dollar limit. So Once you hit $5,000 in sales for the year, then for the year you flip over to not being under the pickle law. So the previous owner had grown, the business, passed the pickle law. So that means I now produce out of a commercial kitchen. I have all sorts of licenses and fun inspections. But that also means the product I'm producing is PH tested and I temp test everything so it is safe to consume. Carrie Stevens [00:03:41]: But that, so that started, she started from that under the pickle law, making it in our house, selling it at farmers markets and grew a business to where it's in retail stores, food co ops, kind of boutique stores or stores that specialize in local products. So shelf stable product that is taking a consumable product that is going to go bad and preserving it. So, so you can put it in your pantry and eat it when you get to it. So I purchased the business and have, am continuing the same recipes, getting restocked in the same stores, selling through website. We also sell it through our farm. So we have a customer base that purchases from our farm, so we sell through there too and just kind of looking at different new avenues as well. But it's been quite the learning experience we've started. My husband and I have started a business before but purchasing a business is a little different. Carrie Stevens [00:04:46]: So a lot of interesting learning but you know, good, bad and otherwise. Right. Some good things, some things that I'll change but it all is a good learning process. So, so it's been, been interesting and you know, little bumps through the, in the road. But you know, my husband keeps reminding me that one thing at a time and just it's. And it's going to take time. So with any, with anything it is going to take time to figure it out. I burnt a whole batch of pear sauce. Carrie Stevens [00:05:18]: And you burnt a whole. James Kademan [00:05:20]: How big is the whole batch? Are we talking a cauldron? Carrie Stevens [00:05:22]: Like a hundred? Some jars. James Kademan [00:05:24]: Well, that's a fair amount. Carrie Stevens [00:05:25]: That's a fair amount. Yeah. I mean, but my kids still like it, so. Hey. James Kademan [00:05:28]: Oh, well, there you go. Maybe it's a new product. Right? Carrie Stevens [00:05:30]: Burn. So white elephants at Christmas. Going to be fun. James Kademan [00:05:34]: If people drink Zima, they'll eat burnt pear sauce. Right? Carrie Stevens [00:05:38]: I mean, it's not totally burnt. It's just a little burnt. James Kademan [00:05:40]: All right. A little t. It's charcoal, right? Like, what is that, tequila? Carrie Stevens [00:05:43]: Like a zest of charcoal. James Kademan [00:05:47]: Tell me. So you have a farm that you butcher stuff at, right? Carrie Stevens [00:05:51]: Yeah. So we raised beef, cattle, pigs, chickens, chickens for meat and chickens for eggs and sell all direct to consumers. So we purchased the farm seven years ago, moved onto the farm. It'll be six years ago this fall and pre pandemic. So fall of 2019, we took our first steers to the butcher, sold to friends and family. And then when the pandemic hit, I said to my husband, and maybe I should have taken these words back, but I said, hey, I think we can sell this. And now we. So that was fall of 2019, when we took two steers into the butcher. Carrie Stevens [00:06:33]: Now we take anywhere from three to five steers into the butcher every month. And we do about 50 pigs a year. I did 450 meat chickens last year. I'm gonna double it this year. James Kademan [00:06:50]: Wow. Carrie Stevens [00:06:51]: Because I sold out in about two weeks. James Kademan [00:06:53]: Holy cow. Carrie Stevens [00:06:55]: Yeah.

    56 min
  10. Learn to See, Learn to Paint

    11/22/2025

    Learn to See, Learn to Paint

    Kevin Murphy  - Evolve Artist On the Value of Learning Art Beyond Making Art: "As an artist, you require more data. And so an education trains your subconscious mind to feed the data that you need to draw and paint, rather than just the stuff you need for survival." The power of art goes well beyond pictures, sculpture and music.  To simplify it down to the audio and visual alone is to miss the power that learning how to have an eye for art can offer you.  Knowing how to view the world from different angles to help you create a painting is just as useful to see the world from different angles to understand all manner of perspectives. Kevin Murphy draws thought provoking parallels between learning art and mastering other complex skills, exploring how our brains process visual information and how deliberate, foundational training opens doors not just in painting, but in any creative pursuit. You’ll also hear inspiring stories of Evolve Artist students, from high school competitors to retirees, many of whom have gone on to find personal fulfillment and financial success through their art. Listen as Kevin explains how Evolve Artist systematizes the fundamentals of art to help you and other artists see the world and make it more beautiful. Enjoy! Visit Kevin at: https://www.instagram.com/evolveartist/ On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evolveartist/   Podcast Overview: 00:00 Art Foundations and Skill Decay 10:00 "Subconscious Processing and Art" 11:02 "Understanding vs. Replicating Visuals" 19:34 "Foundations of Creating Poetry" 25:51 "Photoshop Pixel Tool Insight" 27:47 "Improving Color Accuracy Techniques" 34:24 Brush Types and Their Uses 38:49 "Quality Paints Worth the Cost" 45:41 Portrait Artist Opens a School 50:30 "Building a Frictionless Art School" 56:30 Mentorship Through Shared Experiences 01:03:33 "Knowing If It's Done" 01:04:10 "Painting Perfection and Consequences" 01:14:05 Authentic Business Adventures 01:19:04 "Gradual Pricing & Promotion" 01:22:18 Business Basics in the Program 01:30:56 "Corporate Structure Enables Success" 01:36:05 "ABA Art Site Launches" 01:37:10 "Appreciation and Positivity" Podcast Transcription:

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About

The business podcast designed for entrepreneurs and small business owners to be inspired by, listen to, enjoy and take some action from.

Information

  • Creator
    Draw In Customers Business Coach James Kademan
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    11
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright Authentic Business Adventures Podcast, via Draw In Customers Business Coaching. All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Authentic Business Adventures Podcast