Small Business Origins Beefy Marketing
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- Business
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Small Business Origins is an engaging podcast series that delves deep into the heart of American entrepreneurship. Every week, our host, John the Marketer, provides an intimate look into the journeys of entrepreneurs and small businesses across the nation, giving listeners a taste of the hard work, passion, and resilience behind every successful enterprise.
Our content ranges from stories of quaint 'mom and pop' shops to those of thriving million-dollar companies, highlighting the diverse spectrum of business landscapes in America. Each episode explores the 'why' behind what these businesses do, uncovering their origins, challenges, triumphs, and the dreams that fuel them. It's not just about business; it's about the human spirit that dares to dream and turn those dreams into reality.
The theme of the podcast is to celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship, to inspire through real-life examples of grit and determination, and to showcase the stories that often go untold, but form the backbone of American economy.
**The views expressed here are solely representative of those stating their opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of John Kelley or Beefy Marketing. Small Business Origins invites guests to speak of their experience and offer personal opinions on a range of topics, none of which is censored or scripted. Nothing expressed in any episode should be taken as advice for any subject including financial decisions, medical decisions, or life choices. Please consult an appropriate expert if you have questions regarding any topic discussed on the show.**
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Creating Your Child's Origin Story feat. Elizabeth Probst with At The Core
What our children do today, will be their origin story tomorrow. So we interviewed Beth Probst, founder of At The Core, to learn about how they help high school students with career counseling and planning for life after graduation. They discuss the origin story of At The Core, how Beth helps students explore potential career paths aligned with their strengths and interests, the importance of career and technical education programs, and why many students feel lost when making decisions about college and careers.
Key Discussion Points:
- The problem Beth aimed to solve: high school students graduating with lots of uncertainty and questions about what to do next (00:15:47)
- Beth's process for career counseling students through 1-on-1 interviews and assessments (00:32:36)
- Ideal age for students to work with At The Core (00:37:11)
- Helping students become more "career literate" and explore options (00:19:53)
- Importance of career and technical education programs in high school (00:23:55)
Company Bio:
At The Core provides 1-on-1 career counseling and assessments to help high school students determine the best college and career path aligned with their strengths and interests. Their guided self-assessment process aims to give students clarity and confidence around post-high school decisions. At The Core has been operating since 2012.
Tweetables:
"I believe that every student should use their their high school years as a time of exploration so that they make these amazing concrete clear decisions at the end of high school about what comes next." - Beth Probst
"Most high school students are career illiterate. And so, John, how can a student ever kind of have their eyes on the kind of career that's right for them if they really don't know very much at all about real world careers?" - Beth Probst
"I think I would really be interested in trying to learn how to do that. And so she was the first person that I ever trained, got her up and running, so now we were doubled. And now, now we're a team of 15." - Beth Probst
Links Mentioned:
At The Core Online
At The Core on X
At The Core on Instagram
At The Core on Facebook
At The Core on YouTube
At The Core on Pinterest
Beth Probst on LinkedIn
Beefy Marketing
John Kelley's Links
Small Business Origins Online -
Breaking Free: Leaving the 9-5 to Travel the World featuring Alise Saunders with Tales From an Untamed Soul
In this episode of Small Business Origins, we speak with Alise Saunders, a digital nomad who travels the world while running multiple online businesses. Hear Alise's journey from unsatisfying corporate career to becoming a location-independent entrepreneur, how she funds her nomadic lifestyle, tips for transitioning to working remotely, and the transformative power of long-term travel.
Key Discussion Points:
- Dissatisfaction with corporate career despite high salary and societal markers of success (00:00:42)
- Following your heart's desire to discover what will bring real joy and meaning (00:01:20)
- Funding nomadic lifestyle through online business income, early retirement funds, strategic savings decisions (00:01:45)
- Traveling full-time internationally can lower cost of living compared to US (00:02:06)
- Many accommodation options for digital nomads including apartments, RVs, vehicles, etc. (00:02:28)
- Identifying and transforming limiting beliefs that hold you back from bold life changes (00:29:18)
- Seizing opportunities to live your dreams now instead of waiting for "someday" (00:47:49)
00:00:00 Small Business Origins Podcast Interview with Alise Saunders
00:00:29 Interview with Alise Saunders from Tales From an Untamed Soul
00:01:20 Finding Your Way Back: A Journey of Reflection and Rediscovery
00:09:42 Finding Fulfillment through Travel and Entrepreneurship
00:15:13 The Digital Nomad Lifestyle: Working from Anywhere in the World
00:23:34 The Value of Experiencing History Firsthand as a Digital Nomad Parent
00:27:02 The Journey to Unlearn Limiting Beliefs and Embrace the Digital Nomad Lifestyle
00:35:29 Conversation about becoming a digital nomad and living a fulfilling life
00:52:07 Exploring a Life of Freedom and Purpose
Key Quotes:
"I feel like I'm still missing fire. I'm happier, but I wanna live on fire." (00:11:40)
"A lot of us are just dead people walking around. Right? We're not fully living." (00:31:14)
"What we forget so often is that tomorrow may never come." (00:47:49)
Links Mentioned:
Untamed Soul Online
Untamed Soul Instagram
Untamed Soul Facebook
Alise on LinkedIn
Untamed Soul on Pinterest
Beefy Marketing
Small Business Origins Online
John Kelley's Links -
The Easy Way to Quit Smoking featuring Natalie Clays with Allen Carr’s EasyWay
This episode of Small Business Origins features Natalie Clays, a franchise owner of Allen Carr's Easyway. Allen Carr's Easyway is an international company that provides seminars and programs to help people quit addictions like smoking, alcohol, and more.
Natalie shares her personal story of being a longtime smoker who struggled unsuccessfully to quit until she tried the Allen Carr method. She explains how the Allen Carr approach focuses on reframing your psychological perspective on smoking rather than using scare tactics. Natalie outlines what to expect at one of their seminars, why having facilitators who have personal experience with addiction is so important, and how the program gave her a "lifeline" to be free of cigarettes easily and happily.
Key Discussion Points:
- Natalie's 20-year struggle with smoking addiction and failed quit attempts before Allen Carr
- How Allen Carr's approach avoids scare tactics and reframes your psychological perspective
- What to expect at one of their 6-hour seminars and follow-up support offered
- Importance of facilitators having personal experience with smoking addiction
- How the program provided Natalie an easy, happy way to quit after feeling terrified about life without cigarettes
Guest Bio:
Natalie Clays is a franchise owner of Allen Carr's Easyway across 4 countries - USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. She struggled with a 20-year smoking addiction herself until having an "easy" breakthrough quitting experience at an Allen Carr seminar in 2003. Natalie was so impacted she decided to join the company herself to help others quit smoking. She has now facilitated Allen Carr seminars for over 15 years.
Company Bio:
Allen Carr's Easyway was founded in London in 1983 and now operates across over 50 countries worldwide. Their mission is to help free people from addictions like smoking, vaping, alcohol and more through a non-scare-tactics, psychological reframing approach perfected by founder Allen Carr. The program's centerpiece is a 6-hour, in-person or virtual seminar led by facilitators with personal addiction experience. Allen Carr's Easyway also offers unlimited follow-up support, online content and a money-back satisfaction guarantee.
Key Quotes:
"This addiction is 99% psychological, 1% physical. So you can stick a patch on your arm. You can pop a pill. You can take a lozenge or a gum or a spray or a vape, but they all only address the physical addiction to the drug." (00:15:31)
"When you withdraw from the drug nicotine, you go below a 100%, and which nonsmokers don't have. When you light up a cigarette and you replace you top up the drug levels of nicotine and you get that boost back to normal again." (00:21:59)
"I was terrified. I was terrified of life without cigarettes because it it's like how will I cope? How will I function? I kind of thought I'd be forever deprived and miserable." (00:36:52)
Links Mentioned:
Allen Carr's Easy Way Website
Instagram
Facebook
YouTube
Natalie Clay's LinkedIn
Beefy Marketing
Wingman
John Kelley's... -
From Teacher to Dog Trainer: A Paw-sitive Approach featuring Taryn Tyler with Teacher Turned Trainer
In this installment of Small Business Origins, we listen to the entrepreneurial journey of Taryn Tyler, the visionary behind Teacher Turned Trainer, a dedicated dog training venture nestled in the heart of Kansas City, MO. Transitioning from a career in teaching to becoming a maestro in canine education, Taryn unveils her transformative path, imparting wisdom on how to effectively train and comprehend the intricate behaviors and necessities of our furry companions. Furthermore, she illuminates the array of services she provides to assist pet owners in nurturing well-behaved and happy dogs.
Key Quotes and Discussion Points:
"I was out on a walk with Sinclair, my pit bull...and I was just watching him walk, like thriving in his in his environment and not freaking out about other dogs and other people in the park and things like that. I'm like, this is what I wanna do. Like, I wanna work with dogs like Sinclair." [00:11:30]
On common misconceptions about dog training:
"I would say the biggest misconception that I've seen is, I think some people have the mindset that dog training you only need if your dog is showing unwanted behaviors. Whereas I am under the thought that I think every single dog could use some training." [00:26:14]
On whether dogs can be "too far gone" behaviorally:
"I think it I think it's a case by case situation...if you've exhausted all of those options and even a trainer is like, I don't think this is the best situation, then you have to do what's best for your family and for the dog and just Mutual decision of just trying to figure out what's next." [00:37:47]
Key Takeaways:
- All dogs can benefit from some level of training, whether it's basic obedience or help with more significant behavior issues. It's never too late to start.
- Make sure to find a trainer who uses positive methods aligned with your values.
- Look for opportunities to make training engaging - it should be rewarding for both you and your dog.
- Be patient, get to know your dog's unique needs, and build trust. With time and consistency, you'll start to understand each other better.
Links Mentioned:
Teacher Turned Trainer Online
Teacher Turned Trainer on Instagram
Teacher Turned Trainer on Facebook
Beefy Marketing Online
Small Business Origins Online
John Kelley's Links
Every Business Needs a Wingman -
Corporate Trainer to Business Owner featuring Katie Schwartz, CCC-SLP with Business Speech Improvement
In this episode, speech pathologist Katie Schwartz discusses how she started her business helping clients improve their communication and public speaking skills. She shares how she discovered a need for her services in her community and how she has expanded her business over time. Listeners will learn about the variety of services Katie offers, from improving accents to teaching leadership skills.
Guest Bio:
- Katie Schwartz is a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist based in Durham, NC
- She founded her business, Business Speech Improvement, to help clients communicate more effectively in professional settings
- Services include improving accents, teaching public speaking skills, enhancing leadership communication abilities, and more
Key Quotes:
"I help my clients learn to communicate more effectively and more efficiently." [00:05:50]
"I have been doing this so long that I can give a good estimate of how many sessions somebody is going to need." [00:12:26]
Main Discussion Points:
- How Katie discovered a local need for her communication coaching services
- The story of how she landed her first client with one cold call
- The variety of services she offers clients to improve their professional communication
- How state licensing regulations limit some of her services across state lines
- Her use of eBooks and LinkedIn posts to share helpful communication tips
- Options for both individual and corporate communication training services
Links Mentioned:
Business Speech Online
Business Speech Facebook
Katie on LinkedIn
Beefy Marketing
Small Business Origins Online
Wingman
John Kelley's Links -
From Homeless to Business Owner featuring Dan Henk with Abyss Art Studio
In this episode of the Small Business Origins podcast, host John Kelley interviews Dan Henk, owner of The Abyss Fine Art and Tattoo Studio and Dead Guy LLC. Dan shares his inspiring story of overcoming homelessness, health issues, personal loss, and other hardships on his journey to becoming a successful tattoo artist, author, and entrepreneur.
Main Discussion Points:
- Dan's challenging upbringing as an "Army brat" and finding solace in punk rock, art, and imagination
- Becoming homeless at 18 after his conservative parents kicked him out
- Pulling himself out of homelessness by getting a dishwashing job and working his way up
- Pursuing art by attending community college and moving to NYC
- Facing major health issues like brain cancer soon after starting a tattoo apprenticeship
- Bouncing back while still undergoing chemo treatment through sheer determination
- Going through a painful divorce right when his tattooing career was taking off
- Finally finding stability by opening up his own tattoo shop on Long Island
Guest Bio: Dan Henk is a tattooist, author, and illustrator based in Long Beach, NY. He owns The Abyss Fine Art and Tattoo Studio as well as Dead Guy LLC. He has authored three fiction books and continues to create dark, detailed artwork for various bands, magazines, and book covers.
Tweetables:
"If you look at everybody, that's like a big actor. Brad Pitt slept in his car. He was homeless. You look at all these people they went through trying times to get there. It's not like it was a smooth ride." (00:35:31) - Dan Henk
"So that's what you need to do. You need to find something to keep working at, and you need to not give up." (00:35:15) - Dan Henk
"Nobody cares. They might say, hey, well, it kind of sucks, but if you want something to happen, you got to do it yourself." (00:07:50) - Dan Henk
Links Mentioned:
Dan Henk Online
Dan Henk Wikipedia
Dan Henk on X
Dan Henk on YouTube
Dan Henk on TikTok
Dan Henk on LinkedIn
Dan Henk on Amazon
Dead Guy, LLC on Instagram
Dead Guy, LLC on Facebook
Dead Guy, LLC on Pinterest
Beefy Marketing
Small Business Origins Online
John Kelley's Links
Customer Reviews
Authentic, Educational and Fun
Host John Kelley is connecting with his guests in an authentic way. It makes this show not only educational but also enjoyable to listen to.
Amazing!
I really appreciate how John is so supportive of the small business community and encouraging entrepreneurs to find their niche and live their dream. His résumé and outlook are so interesting to learn from, and I have definitely taken his tips for my own businesses.
Community Support
John has done such an amazing job supporting small businesses in our community. He goes out of his way to promote and include the small business owners and to help us share our stories to new audiences. I can’t wait to see what he has in store for the future!