Unscripted Small Business

Abbey Crane
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Marketing

Our Unscripted Collaborative hosts Keith Bresee, Zaneta Chuniq, Keiron Bailey & 17 year SEO industry expert Jeremy Rivera are having unscripted interviews small business owners, founders and creators across the United States, learning about their challenges, successes and insights into the world of SMBs.

  1. 19h ago

    Building an Organic Tequila Brand With a Mission - AgaveLuz

    Pamela Maria De La Luz spent twenty years selling tequila before she got tired of watching big brands cut corners, so she built AgaveLuz, a certified organic tequila made with two ingredients. Her rule for anyone launching a product: "We don't wanna do things right now. We wanna do things right. So everything takes time." Pamela is from Mexico and has worked in spirits sales for over two decades, in direct contact with the people who buy the bottles. She watched mass producers rush the process with additives, colorants and sweeteners, and decided to make the tequila she remembered. AgaveLuz uses only organic agave and water - no yeast added, open fermentation, agave grown seven to eight years - distilled by Las Americas, a family of organic farmers in Amatitán, Jalisco. Getting certified organic took passing over seventy tests. The full conversation is written up in the episode recap, and you can watch the full episode on YouTube. In this episode Three years to launch - labels, bottle design and approval of every word by the CRT, plus a bottle nobody wanted to make. Standing out among 4,000+ tequila brands in Southern California without competing with the celebrity labels. Giving back with every bottle - Pamela has rescued and cared for street cats in Los Angeles for years, and AgaveLuz donates to local animal rescues in California and Las Vegas. Why cause partnerships open doors - Jeremy on nonprofit marketing budgets and co-branded community cleanup events. In-person tastings and demos, with the founder working the table like a regular demo person. Genuine marketing versus AI slop, and why people are leaning back toward human connection. Las Vegas as a launchpad - partnering with the city's biggest rescue led to menus, out-of-state requests and new stores. Pet-owner influencers - a bottle and a doggy toy, and creators who make videos because they want to be part of it. Chapters (00:00) Pamela Maria De La Luz and AgaveLuz(01:48) Two ingredients and certified organic(03:17) Why mass-produced brands cut corners(05:17) Three years to launch: labels, the CRT and a bottle nobody would make(06:16) 4,000+ tequila brands in Southern California(07:07) Animal rescue and giving back with every bottle(08:39) Partnering with nonprofits for reach(15:25) In-person tastings and demos(16:20) Genuine marketing in the age of AI(17:55) New generations making smarter decisions(19:02) The real challenge: getting to the people(21:05) Las Vegas and the rescue partnership(22:21) In-house marketing and pet-owner influencers(23:40) Advice: do things right, not right now(27:07) Build it with love, not for a quick exit Notable quotes "The same the words is very easy. But to actually prove it and actually doing it, that's different." - Pamela Maria De La Luz "So we are with the biggest rescue in Las Vegas. That has been our key to open so many big doors." - Pamela Maria De La Luz "Starting a business thinking that you're gonna be a millionaire in the next few months and the next year and then sell...

  2. 19h ago

    Rich M. Smith - Growth Is Not an Accident or a Black Box

    Most buyers decide on emotion and justify it afterward. Rich M. Smith has been chief marketing officer of seven companies over 25 years, and at Rich M. Smith Growth Studio he helps founder-led businesses grow in a predictable, systematic way instead of by luck. On this episode of Unscripted Small Business, Rich and Jeremy Rivera get into why behavioral science explains so much of marketing, how to turn "web traffic is up" into a number a CEO cares about, what Rich learned as CMO of AIG Bank during the 2008 financial crisis, and why AI engines now work as your outsourced customer service and your outsourced sales team. Read the full recap: Growth Is Not an Accident. More from Rich on his blog. He also hosts The Revenue Science Podcast. In this episode Emotion first, logic second. Rich trained in classical economics and rational-actor theory. Behavioral science, and the 188 cognitive biases he cites, says people decide on emotion and rationalize later. More on psychology-based marketing. Framing is not manipulation. The ground beef test: 10% fat or 90% fat free. Same product, honest framing. Speak CEO. Swap "web traffic is up 15%" for "we increased potential demand by 15%," then talk about conversion. Rich wrote it up as think like a marketer, talk like a CEO. Attribution you can defend. Controlled regional tests, a multi-channel attribution model built on tested assumptions, and why you should give paid some credit for organic. The AIG Bank decision. Keep a tarnished brand everyone knows, or rebrand to one nobody knows. Rich kept it, and the bank was back to profitability within 18 months. Authenticity equals credibility. Never make up an answer. Say what you're going to do, then do it. AI as outsourced sales. Why third-party mentions, reviews, local press and podcast appearances carry more weight with AI engines than your own website. Answer the problems customers already have. The HubSpot example, and what a Nashville pool company should be publishing. Chapters (00:00) Rich's 25 years and seven CMO seats (01:13) Why people decide on emotion and rationalize later (05:47) Is marketing manipulation? (07:02) Translating marketing-speak into CEO-speak (11:38) Attribution when you can't see everything (17:52) AIG Bank, 2008, and the rebrand decision (23:54) Authenticity equals credibility (27:22) The ground beef framing test (28:08) AI as outsourced customer service and outsourced sales (33:50) Third-party validation and what AI engines weigh (36:15) Answer the problems your customers already have (39:08) Growth is not an accident (41:22) Where to find Rich Notable quotes "We make emotional decisions and then we rationalize them later and we tell ourselves that those are rational decisions." - Rich M. Smith "What is being said about you, what you put...

    Rich M. Smith - Growth Is Not an Accident or a Black Box

  3. 1d ago

    Your Name in Every Box - Neil Thubron on Leading and Selling Outcomes

    Neil Thubron is an executive coach, the creator of the Whiteboard Value Selling methodology and the founder of XNRG. His last corporate role had 450 salespeople and a 1.6 billion target. Today he works with founders whose business can't run without them, and with sales teams stuck in product-led pitches. Read the full write-up on the Unscripted Small Business recap of this episode. What we cover Why Neil has founders draw an org chart "even if your name's in every single one of those leadership roles" Bringing in a fractional CFO, then a CMO, then a fractional board Values and standards: "people are not mind-readers" Logos, pathos and ethos value, and why B2C buyers lean on pathos and ethos Moving from a technical sales conversation to a business outcomes conversation Internal ambassadors in B2B deals Why intent decides the sale, and why he still wants salespeople motivated by money Where AI should replace tasks, and the human piece it can't Three kinds of value Neil borrows from Aristotle. Logos value is the commercial benefit, the part that goes into the business case and the effect on EBITDA. Pathos value is how you make someone feel during the process and after they buy. Ethos is trust in you and your brand. B2B deals need all three; B2C purchases often skip the business case entirely. Intent over technique Jeremy asks whether being honest with a client and getting paid are in conflict. Neil's answer: "If you're there to help someone and your genuine intent is to do that, then you will be successful." He wants money-motivated salespeople, but you can't sell something to someone who doesn't need it more than once. AI and the human piece Neil's advice to owners under pressure is to ask where AI can take over tasks so the team can focus on higher value work. Only 7% of communication is the words, and "AI can do 7%." The tone and the physiology are still yours. Connect with Neil at neilthubron.com or on LinkedIn.

    Your Name in Every Box - Neil Thubron on Leading and Selling Outcomes

  4. Oct 7

    Inventing a Product With Zero Experience - Melissa Denning of Mom Aid

    Melissa Denning had zero experience inventing anything when she found a gap in the market while breastfeeding her third child. Melissa Denning is the founder of Mom Aid, a luxury postpartum and baby care line, and she took the Boob Aid Nursing Pads from an idea to a patent. Read the full episode recap. She tells Jeremy Rivera how she went from searching the internet for hours to a patent attorney, a university inventors program, a design firm in California and a manufacturer quote that jumped from $50,000 to $120,000. So she launched the Boob Aid Nipple Ointment and Tiny Tush Diaper Cream first, to build the brand while the pads wait on funding. She also shares how she makes animated product ads with AI, why she stays bootstrapped, and why her end game is to grow to help people, not to sell. In this episode The gap: nothing protected the nipple between feedings and absorbed leaking milk too. Her guide to nipple care for breastfeeding moms covers the problem in her words Taking the first step: a patent attorney and Oklahoma State University's inventors assistance program Voluntary FDA registration for her ointment and diaper cream, and how her path compares to Téa Phillips and the MetaFlex glove The design that failed, the silicone-center design that replaced it, and a test run of 5,000 hand-packaged pads to prove market validity Firing the marketing firm, running her own Meta ads and betting on user generated content through an affiliate platform Self-funded on purpose: "somebody else has a stake, that means somebody else has a say" A 45-second animated ad built with Claude, ChatGPT, Runway, Suno and CapCut. We turned it into a free AI Animated Product Ad SOP Reinvest the time AI saves into quality review. Jeremy compares notes with Melyssa Jaskiewicz of Leveling the Fields, who uses Claude every day, and David Levine makes a similar case: AI on a broken process only speeds up the problem Intentionally designed: an angled applicator so you never dig a finger into a tub Why Mom Aid costs more, and why she won't sell to a big conglomerate Chapters (00:00) Meet Melissa Denning of Mom Aid (01:03) Regulatory hoops and voluntary FDA registration (02:46) The gap she found while breastfeeding (04:05) "If I don't start now, I'm never gonna start" (06:16) Zero experience, three kids and a real estate license (07:01) A patent attorney and a design firm (08:12) What makes the nursing pads different (09:45) The $120,000 machine (11:15) Launching the ointment first (11:47) Firing the marketing firm and getting scrappy (13:45) Staying self-funded (15:44) The AI animated ad workflow (18:37) AI as a super serum for marketing (21:12) Reinvest the time AI saves into quality (22:36) AI...

    Inventing a Product With Zero Experience - Melissa Denning of Mom Aid

  5. Oct 5

    AI Speeds Up Broken Processes - David Levine on Customer Experience

    Put AI on top of a broken process and all you get is the same problem, faster. David Levine of I am Your Virtual Professional ran a brick-and-mortar candy and chocolate store for almost 20 years. Now he helps small businesses get found and keep customers coming back. Read the full episode recap. He brings Jeremy Rivera three free fixes for getting found and a pen-and-paper habit that writes your best website content for you. David wrote Old School Service, New School Tools, and his case is that customer service is the old way of thinking. Customer experience starts at the first touch point, and the time AI saves you should go back into that experience. He keeps the tools that go with the book on his customer experience and AI tools page. In this episode Three free ways to get found: make sure your site is indexed (one client's $250 site sat unindexed for years), claim and optimize your Google Business Profile, and answer the full questions people now type into Google and AI tools Read one automated email as your customer, change one line, and set up an autoresponder that tells people when they will hear back and alerts the owner. His Follow-Up Helper covers the next step: following up without being pushy The 500 smudged box tops: how a corporate client who called him a liar came into the store and saw the proof "I'm sorry, and" beats "I'm sorry, but", and why a page of nothing but five-star reviews is not real AI tools create drafts. Your job is your voice, accuracy and no promises you can't keep Raving fans, a Village of Skokie Business of the Year award, and a chocolate dessert burger that won a hamburger contest FAQs on the pages where they belong: a firearm instructor repositioned around safety, a fence company with a page for each town's permitting steps, and a phone number in the footer The question notebook: for a month, write down every question customers ask before you touch your website. We turned it into a free Customer Question Notebook SOP Chapters (00:00) Get found and keep customers coming back (02:12) Three free tips: indexing, Google Business Profile, questions (05:07) From customer service to customer experience (06:03) Buy from yourself on someone else's phone (08:16) Read one automated email as your customer (10:44) Bad reviews come from bad communication (12:51) The 500 smudged box tops (15:16) How to answer a negative review (17:31) A broken process plus AI (18:56) Technology changes, human nature does not (20:26) Raving fans (22:32) Zappos, smiling on the phone and untrained chatbots (25:13) A website is a zoo, not a fishing trip (27:34) FAQs on every relevant page (30:52) Ask your installer what customers ask (32:04) The question notebook (34:13) Where to find David Notable quotes "If you have a broken process and you put AI into it, all you're doing is speeding up the problem." - David Levine "Customers wanna feel heard. They want to feel valued. They wanna feel listened to." - David Levine "Old school service, new school tools. You need to go old school before you go new schoo...

    AI Speeds Up Broken Processes - David Levine on Customer Experience

  6. Oct 1

    The Six-Part Flight Plan for Small Business - Bruce Ashford

    Your business is an airplane, and most owners only watch the one or two parts that are on fire. Bruce Ashford of The Ashford Agency spent 19 years in the nonprofit sector, 14 of them in the C-suite, and now runs a certified Small Business Flight Plan practice for founder-led businesses. He walks Jeremy Rivera through all six parts: leadership is the cockpit, marketing and sales are the two engines, products are the wings, overhead and operations is the body, and cash flow is the fuel. Read the full episode recap. Bruce explains why the quickest wins are usually meetings and messaging: a tight all-staff meeting, a leadership meeting about roadblocks and owners, and a 15-minute standup. First impressions may be visual, he says, but commitments to act are message based. That is the work of his Million Dollar Message intensive. He answers a cash flow question left by Malith Gamage from a past episode: Profit First, lock down the home front before you invest, and give the business three critical economic objectives with a deadline and a reason. Then voice of customer data, and the throwaway client comment he turned into the centrepiece of his marketing. They cover seasonality, why pain is the pathway to progress, and the legal basics every owner skips (Jeremy brings up his talk with Phil Crowley). Bruce closes on the trust economy: you now have to win the trust of the humans who buy from you and the AI models that recommend you, through three lanes that run from schema and NAP consistency to reviews, pricing transparency, case studies, about pages and author pages. Bruce was first on the show in an episode on why your customer is the hero (his own write-up). Subscribe to his biweekly Executive Intelligence Files at theashfordagency.com or find him on LinkedIn. More from the network: Unscripted Small Business - Jeremy Rivera.

    The Six-Part Flight Plan for Small Business - Bruce Ashford

  7. Sep 30

    The Second Job Nobody Warned You About - Peter S. Bergeron

    Peter S. Bergeron closed his family's business in 2020, a year after his father died, then went back for a doctorate at 50 to find out what went wrong. The author of The Trapped Operator joins Jeremy Rivera to name the second job every owner gets without warning: the business of running the business. Peter explains why the best leaders are the ones who end up trapped, why most owners were never business trained, and how the accidental business owner goes from swinging a hammer to arguing with the bank about ratios. Read the full episode recap, or Peter's own take on why doing everything right can still feel like survival mode. He keeps the finance plain: your lender wants your debt service ratio, your line of credit is your receivables and inventory, and no single customer should be more than thirty or forty percent of revenue. His six-question snapshot often shows owners who feel like they are in survival mode are actually doing fine. The simplest test is a tally sheet by the desk: count the questions you answer that belong to someone else's hat. They get into fire prevention versus firefighting, why the exit plan belongs at the start (the same logic as writing the operating agreement before you need it), and why a second location is really a second company. Jeremy brings up Brandon Moon's end-of-business consulting and Peter answers a guest from an earlier episode on growth stages. On AI, Peter sees a force multiplier for repetitive work, not a replacement for the thinking. His parting message: you are not alone, even when the business makes it feel that way. Find Peter's diagnostics and playbooks at 12fatalissues.com and his IP library at wrestlingagainsttime.com. More from the network: Unscripted Small Business - Jeremy Rivera.

    The Second Job Nobody Warned You About - Peter S. Bergeron

  8. Sep 23

    The Tail Can't Wag the Dog: Tom Malesic on Agency Culture

    Tom Malesic started EZMarketing thirty-five seconds after quitting a boss who refused a client he disagreed with. Twenty-nine years later he runs the opposite kind of company. This one is about culture, client concentration and when to fire a customer. Read the full written recap. Key takeaways Core values are the culture. Not a poster. The hire who said “I gotta cover my ass” is the story that proved it. The tail cannot wag the dog. The book is deliberately a large volume of small customers, so the top five could all leave tomorrow without a single redundancy. The customer who makes your team cry has to go. He coaches customers the way he coaches staff, and fires the ones who will not be coached. One toxic employee wrecks a culture and your public reviews with it. The cost is not the salary. Fully remote on an operating cadence. Three countries, and an eleven-thousand square foot office holding four people. One trained AI agent per client. Across roughly seventy models, so the machine knows the client’s voice better than any single team member. The tail cannot wag the dog EZMarketing deliberately runs a large number of small customers rather than a handful of large ones. It is less efficient, and it is the reason the company survives losing anybody. His test is blunt: if your top five clients all left tomorrow, would anyone lose their job? For most small businesses the honest answer is yes, which means those five clients are quietly running the company. Firing the customer A customer once made an employee cry. That customer is no longer a customer. The revenue is replaceable and the employee is not. He treats it as coaching first: customers get told when their behaviour is a problem, the same as staff do, and most of them adjust. Remote, on a cadence The team is fully remote across three countries, run on an EOS cadence. Weekly rhythm, clear numbers, and accountability that does not require anyone to be watched. One agent per client Each client gets its own trained agent, built on Hats.ai across roughly seventy models. The point is not speed. The agent holds the client’s voice and history more completely than any one account manager, and it does not leave. He also flags the session-recording and accessibility demand letters now landing in small-business inboxes. Questions this episode answers How much client concentration is too much for a small business? Should you ever fire a customer? What does one toxic employee cost you? Can a small team run fully remote? Go deeper Tom’s first interview, on the website as the center of everything. This conversation first aired on The Unscripted SEO Interview Podcast. More owner conversations at Unscripted Small Business. EZMarketing is in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and offers free website audits.

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Our Unscripted Collaborative hosts Keith Bresee, Zaneta Chuniq, Keiron Bailey & 17 year SEO industry expert Jeremy Rivera are having unscripted interviews small business owners, founders and creators across the United States, learning about their challenges, successes and insights into the world of SMBs.

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